Lori the Fencer
by Exotos135
Summary: When Lori's mother suggests that the young woman should try out fencing, Lori decides to give the activity a shot, unaware that a certain gal is also into fencing, or so it seems...
1. Introduction

**Yes, I'm actually gonna be stupid enough to add another story along side "Loud Prix" and "Chains of Reality" to my ongoing stories list. Why? 'Cuz Omega Ultra is doing it, and since he's doing well with it, that means anybody can do it as well!**

 **Being honest, though, I just wanna see how this story will be received. I don't think I've ever seen something fencing-related in the fandom, so... There's that.**

 **And besides... You know what? Let's just move on.  
**

* * *

It was an average day at the Loud house: And if you couldn't tell from the name, it was kinda Loud. The sportsy Lynn ran around the backyard, followed by the plumber that was Lana, who was running like a dog alongside the actual dog of the family. Nearby them were the diva princess Lola and gothic poet Lucy were sitting at the bench, alongside the scientist Lisa, who was mixing some chemicals.

As a small explosion happened, and the baby Lily flew past everyone, the musician Luna caught her with ease then put her down close to the comedian Luan, who promptly made her laugh with one of her ventriloquism acts. Nearby them were the fashionista Leni trying out a new outfit on her comic book fan brother Lincoln, who was writing the outset of an Ace Savvy fan comic.

And then there was Lori, who just leaned against a tree, looking at her phone. Which her mother soon noticed before whistling, getting her attention.

"What's wrong, mom?" the young adult asked.

"Come with me, darling," Rita answered. "There's something I want to discuss with you."

 _A little bit later, at Lori and Leni's bedroom..._

"What's fencing?" Lori inquired.

"It's basically a sort of swordplay," Rita shrugged. "Two people use rapier-style swords, then fight in an elegant, yet sometimes aggressive manner in order to try and hit the other first. One hit, and whoever gets hit loses."

"Huh, that doesn't sound like something Lincoln would like to do," Lori answered, earning a deadpan look from her mother. "Maybe Lynn would enjoy it, though."

"Lori, I'm not asking you to know whether you think Lincoln or Lynn would like it or not," the woman confessed. "Rather, I'm asking you because I want to know if you yourself would like to do it or not."

"What?!" Lori exclaimed in disbelief. "B-But mom, Lynn's your athletic daughter, not me!"

"She already doing more than her fair share of sports, and I'm not adding another one to her list."

"Well, Lincoln still hasn't found his special talent in life!"

"And neither have you. Besides, taking into account your personality, I think fencing would suit you really well." the woman sat next to Lori. "Listen, you don't have to tell me whether you want to do it right away or not. Think about it, and when you have your answer, come talk to me."

With that said, Rita gave her daughter a wink and left the room, leaving a perplexed Lori behind. And so, she decided to think about it: She did lack a talent or, well, anything that made her stand out from her, specially since Lincoln discovered his talent in making comic books, or writing in general. But on the other hand, Lori didn't really see herself as the "swordplay" kind of person, again, anything sports-related would be far better suited for Lynn.

Decisions, decisions...

Eventually, Lori went to her parents' bedroom and asked her mother, "Could I get a look at it first?"

 _An hour or so later, at the fencing dojo..._

The vanzilla parked outside the fencing dojo, which looked like an average martial arts dojo, only with a more white-color, sword-themed building. Once there, Lori and Rita came out of the car and went inside, where they found a familiar redheaded girl dominating an unknown fencer.

"Hey, she looks... Sort of familiar," Lori remarked, scratching her chin.

Once the redheaded fencer hit her opponent, the referee called "Over!" to signal the match was... Well, over. With that said and done, the fencers shook hands and bowed at each other, then the referee, then the audience of other students before revealing taking off their masks:

The fencer who lost turned out to be Bobby, Lori's boyfriend.

And the fencer who won was none other than Becky, Lori's classmate.

"Bobby Boo Boo Bear?! Becky?!" Lori remarked with shock. "That's... Actually pretty interesting, but I hope he isn't doing anything more with that girl!"

"Perhaps you would like to join, just to keep an eye on your boyfriend?" Rita quipped, causing the young woman to blush and look away. "Come on, let's see if they're accepting new students."

Rita dragged her daughter to the referee, and as Lori glanced at Becky and Bobby, Rita said, "Greetings, my good man! Look, my daughter is looking to join your fencing class, so I was wondering if you had any room for another student?"

"You'll have to ask the owner of this building for that, I'm just the referee," the man answered, right before he noticed another masked fencer, this time clearly an older woman, arrived at the stage and walked to Rita. "Oh, looks like she just arrived."

The masked fencer took off her mask, revealing she was Mrs. Johnson, which immediately caught Lori's attention, and caused Rita to take a step back in disbelief. "Mrs. Johnson, you're the owner of this building?!" she asked as her eyes grew wide.

"Surprised?" the redheaded woman giggled.

"Wait," Lori blurted, before turning back to glare at Becky. "Since Becky's your daughter-"

"Now, Lori, don't accuse mom of nepotism!" Becky replied, giving the blonde the pointer finger. "I had to go through the starting test just like everybody else! And if that doesn't convince you, I'm not even on the top five!"

"Top five?" Lori repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"She means the top five students," Bobby explained with a shrug. "She's not necessarily that good, but at least she's better than me."

"That I can believe, but what are you even doing here, Bobby?"

"I thought it would be a fun experience to practice fencing," the guy answered. "Is there a problem with that, honey?"

Lori scratched the back of her head, "Well, if I can be honest, I think it would make more sense if Ronnie Anne, your sister, practiced fencing, not you."

"Yeah, I agree, but you see..."

 _Bobby's flashback..._

Ronnie Anne was playing video games in her underwear when Bobby opened the door and asked, "Ronnie, could you please put on clothes while you do your things?"

"Fine, Bobby," Ronnie answered, looking straight at her game.

"Okay, by the way, would you like to sign up for fencing classes?"

"No way, sports are overrated."

 _Back in the present..._

"She wasn't interested."

"Well, this was a very interesting talk between you two," Rita interrupted before turning back to Mrs. Johnson. "Now let's get back to the point: My daughter is interested in practicing fencing, and we were wondering if you had any room for new students."

"Lori, is this true?" the redheaded woman shot a glare at Rita. "I prefer to have students with genuine interest in fencing, rather than have their parents try to live out their dreams through them."

"I-I'm not trying to do that, honest!" Loud Mama stated.

"Well, normally, I would say that mom was just trying her hardest to try and force me to make myself stand out from my siblings, since I'm about to become an adult and yet, besides that, nothing really makes me stand out," Lori explained, folding her arms as she continued. "But, truth be told, if I want to get somewhere in my life, I need to try out new challenge, and if my Bobby Boo Boo Bear is willing enough to try this out, I don't see why I can't do the same. So yeah, I'd like to practice this fencing thing."

"Perfect!" Mrs. Johnson put a hand on Rita's shoulder. "I'll discuss a couple things with your mother, and once everything is set, you can do the initiation test next week."

And so, the blonde and redheaded women went to discuss their things while Bobby and Becky approached Lori. "Are you sure you want to do this, baby?" Bobby frowned. "Fencing can be a bit difficult to master if you forget any of the rules."

"Yeah, not to mention painful," Becky added. "During one practice match, Bobby's foil hit my right in the center of my left chest!"

"What's a foil?" Lori inquired.

"It's basically a lightweight counterpart to a sword," Bobby answered. "And before you get angry, I was aiming for her shoulder."

"As long as you were not flirting with her, I don't care," Lori remembered something. "Now, you mentioned something about the top five, who are those people?"

"They're the five best students in the entire dojo! It's considered a really bad to confront them, and mom's even considering letting them become the masters of the dojo once she retires!" Becky explained. "Their names are, in order: Fifth best is Maggie Swagger, the fourth is Dana Pain, the third is Teri DiMartino, the second is Hugh-"

"Hold it, most those names besides the one of the second sound like they belong to females," Lori scoffed. "What, is this supposed to be an all-female dojo and Bobby's just the exception?"

"Mom's working on trying to get the female-to-male equal, okay?" Becky growled. "Anyway, the first is..."

However, just as she was about to reveal the first's name, Becky hesitated, which quickly got on Lori's nerves. "Why did you stop? Who's the first?"

Becky and Bobby exchanged looks, and seeing from her stern expression that Lori wouldn't let them leave without finishing the list, Bobby was the one to break it to Lori:

"The number one student... Is Carol Pingrey."


	2. Fencing Training

_The next day..._

Lori paced back and forth in her and Leni's bedroom, still troubled at the revelation from yesterday. She managed to join the fencing dojo, and she had around a week to prepare before the initiation test. It's not like discovering her high school rival was in the dojo would be enough to make her tuck her tail between her legs and leave without even trying out the sport.

Still, the idea Carol was so good she was at the top of the class, thoroughly disturbed the young woman to no end. As if she didn't have enough trouble dealing with her in normal school, now she not only had to deal with her in the fencing dojo, but she was already at the very top of the class! How was she supposed to compete with that?!

" _I need to try and stay focused,_ " she thought as she stopped in the middle of her room. " _I must first and foremost practice and train for the initiation test, I can worry about Carol later._ "

"Lori?"

The young woman flinched and turned around to see her sister, Leni, standing nearby with a confused look. "Why are you, like, pacing back and forth like that?" she asked. "Is something on your mind?"

"Well, uh, yeah, there is something on my mind," Lori hesitantly answered. "I-It's not something you need to worry about, though-"

"Lori, you already know how this goes," Leni shrugged. "Either you tell me what's going on so I can see if I can gather our other siblings to help you out, or I do something stupid and get everybody to ask you, then help you out. It's the least I can do as your big sister."

"I'm a year older than you."

"Yeah, but you have a bad habit of, like, acting a decade younger than me."

"Fair enough, I guess," Lori sighed and put a hand on Leni's shoulder. "Listen, it's something personal: If you or any of our siblings were to find out about it, and butt your noses into the deal, it might mess something up. So, please, trust me when I tell you that everything is fine."

The ditz narrowed her eyes, but the duo's attention was soon caught when they heard Lori's phone ring. So she checked it and saw it was a call from Bobby. "It's Bobby," the young woman said as she answered the call.

"Nothing out of the ordinary there, then," Leni rolled her eyes.

Lori walked to the corner to talk to Bobby in private, and so Leni leaned closer to try and hear her.

"Hi darling... Yeah... Got it, I'll be there soon."

With that said, Lori grabbed her backpack and hastily bid farewell to Leni before leaving the room, and an intrigued Leni behind. She went downstairs, and she was about to head to the garage when she stopped right at the kitchen, to see her mother eating with the rest of her siblings.

"Hi Lori," Rita greeted as she got up. "I'm assuming you want to talk about something in private?"

"Yes, private, please."

And so the pair went to the garage, leaving the remaining, curious Louds. Once they were there, Lori spoke:

"Bobby told me that he and Becky need to give me a lesson on the three main types of sabers used in fencing: The foil, and two others whose name I can't really say. But, I'm getting worried about whether or not I should tell my siblings about this or not; Leni got suspicious, and it was only when Bobby called me that I could get out, so... What do you think?"

"Lori, do you want your sisters and brother to find out you're practicing fencing now?" the woman asked, folding her arms.

After thinking about it for a moment and taking a deep breath, "I don't want them to know until I have at least passed the initiation test," she looked away and rubbed her shoulder. "If they found out before then, they'd probably just get in the way."

"In that case, your siblings don't have the right to force you to tell them anything until you feel comfortable about it," Rita answered, giving her daughter a smile and wink. "Unless you've passed the test, then let's try keep it a secret, okay?"

Lori smiled, got in the vanzilla, and promptly drove to the fencing dojo with a troubling thought in her mind:

"Something tells me at least one of them knows already."

Speaking of which, Rita glanced at the door, which was partially opened. And right on the other side was Lynn, who took a deep breath as she hoped her mother hadn't found out she was there.

"Lynn."

The athlete jumped and turned to see the woman standing right in front of her, with an angry expression on her face and her hands on her hips. "Did Lucy get her creepy teleportation powers from you or something!?" the jock exclaimed.

"Most likely. Anyway, we need to talk," the woman sternly stated. "Now."

 _Meanwhile, at the fencing dojo..._

Lori parked outside the dojo, then went inside, only to be greeted by Bobby... In his regular clothes, and holding a fencing outfit. "Hi babe, here," the guy handed the suit to his girlfriend. "This is your fencing suit."

"Uh, thanks?" Lori eyed the outfit. "Do I really need to wear this? It looks a little... I don't know, I don't necessarily like it."

"Well, if we didn't wear the suit, injuries and potential death during practice would be far more common," Bobby bluntly answered. "But, if you wanna run the risk-"

Lori bolted to the changing room, put on the fencing suit, then quickly came back before saying, "There! Put the suit!" in a hasty tone. Bobby chuckled and went to change as well, leaving Lori behind to calm down and relax for a moment.

"Hey."

Sadly, Carol arrived to throw that into doubt.

"O-Oh, hi, Carol!" Lori nervously greeted right at Carol's stern glare. "I'm... I'm just here literally to, you know, practice some fencing and-"

"What's your preferred strategy?" Carol inquired.

Naturally, Lori was confused. "Excuse me?"

Carol put Lori down, then revealed three fencing sabers to her: A foil, an epee, and a sabre. "These are the three types of sabers used in fencing: Foil, Epee, and Saber. The foil is lightweight, and if used, only the tip can earn you a score, and only the torso may be struck, any other place is forbidden."

Lori nodded. "Next, is the Epee, which is similar to the foil, but heavier. Using it, you can only get points with the tip, but you can strike anywhere."

Lori, now legitimately interested in the explanation, nodded more confidently. "And finally, the Saber. It's less flexible, and you can get points by striking with either side of the blade. However, you may only hit the upper body."

Then Carol handed Lori a foil... Made of wood? "Since you haven't even completed your initiation test yet, you'll only be able to use a wooden foil, and once you become a beginner, you will begin with a foil. After that, however, it's up to you to figure out what type of saber you want."

With all that said, Carol walked away and, gripping her wooden foil, Lori got up and went to practice with Bobby and Becky. For some reason, the latter seemed rather... Cautious. "Ready for your lesson, Lori?" Bobby asked.

Lori silently nodded. "Excellent!" Becky exclaimed, clasping her hands as she seemingly returned to reality. "Now, before we begin, let's recap on the three types of sabers..."

The young woman heard the lecture, but it wasn't anything new to her. After all, Carol told her all she needed to know just a moment ago. Once the lecture was done, Lori and Bobby went to the training area. Becky remained behind to spectate the whole thing.

"Okay, Lori, let's see if you learned anything from the lecture," Becky folded her arms. "Now, act like you're using an actual foil, and strike Bobby when you see the chance!"

When she heard that, Lori remembered something:

" _Strike with the tip, only the torso._ "

Lori blocked a couple strikes, then struck Bobby's torso with the tip.

"Well done, babe!" Bobby said.

"Okay, that was easy," Becky shrugged. "Now, an Epee, same deal: strike according to it's rules! Ready, set, go!"

The blonde remembered another thing:

" _Strike with the tip, anywhere is fine._ "

She blocked and dodged a couple strikes, then hit Bobby's hip with the tip.

"Whoa, I didn't see that coming," the guy smiled. "Good work, Lori."

"Good, now, the next test will be the last for today," Becky stated. "A saber, same as the other tests, and... go!"

A final memory appeared:

" _Strike with the tip or the side, only the upper body._ "

Lori clashed foils with Bobby, then swung it up, dodged an incoming attack, and swung her wooden foil on Bobby's shoulder. With that done, Becky and Bobby approached the young woman as she processed what she just did.

"Lori, you amaze me!" Bobby said. "Most beginners forget one or two things about the lecture, but you passed all three tests!"

"How did you do it?" Becky asked.

Once Lori returned to reality, she hastily answered, "Oh, uh, beginner's luck, I guess?"

At that statement, Becky muttered, "Huh, sounds familiar," before eyeing a particular corner, and a shadowy figure as well, then walking towards it with a stern look. This happened while Lori remembered how Carol's teachings actually helped her out.

" _What Carol taught me helped me out... But I still don't understand,_ " she thought. " _Why did she help me? Why would she even help me?_ "

And then, Lori spotted Carol leaning against a wall nearby. She then made the "call me" gesture and walked away, leaving Lori to ponder what she was doing there. One thing was for sure, though:

She totally had to make a call after class.


	3. Two Sides of the Conversation

Lori had just returned from her fencing practice, and she was about to head to her bedroom before she heard something... Intriguing.

"Mom, this is completely unfair!"

The young woman went to check on what was the ruckus, and she was shocked to see all of her sisters, and Lincoln, in their parents' bedroom. Rita sat on her bed, legs crossed and arms folded, while Lynn Jr looked particularly furious at her.

"Is it true what Lynn said?" Lincoln asked, sounding partially concerned. "Did you really signed up Lori for fencing instead of her?"

They knew already?! Well, it kinda was inevitable, the family was that big, but still, the young woman at least hoped she could keep it a secret for one or two days.

"I'm not going to say more than I need to," Rita sternly stated. "Yes, I did sign up Lori for something instead of Lynn, but that's all I'm saying."

"But I'm the sports superstar of the family!" Lynn snapped, stomping the ground. "I do dozens of sports every day without breaking a sweat!"

"Even more reason to let Lori try it out instead of you," Loud Mama answered. "You have done so many sports right now, Lynn, that it's basically nothing new. Lori, however, is trying out something new, something she didn't even consider doing before I asked her about it."

Lynn looked at the ground, clearly upset. "Besides, it gives your sister a chance to be recognized as being something other than "the oldest sister" by other people," Rita looked at her children. "And no matter what you tell me, I won't take that away from her."

Rita went to leave her room, but not before giving one last warning:

"And if you try to do anything to sabotage her, you'll be grounded!"

The loud sisters-and Lincoln-flinched at the warning as Rita left, and once she was out, she caught a glimpse of Lori heading off to her and Leni's bedroom, and she could only smile as she hoped she had helped Lori dodge a bullet there.

Nevertheless, once Lori had reached her room-and made sure nobody was coming-she dialed Carol's phone number and waited for her to answer. Once she did, though, Carol was pretty blunt in her "greeting":

"Lori, I know I told you to call me earlier, but I'm busy right now, call me later."

And as Carol hung up, the girl stood in the middle of the fencing area, in front of Mrs. Johnson, who held an Epee while Carol held a Saber. The two were wearing fencing suits, and it looked like they were about to fight.

"I was informed about what you did with Lori," Mrs. Johnson stated as Carol narrowed her eyes in defiance. "You taught her how to handle the foil, the epee, and the saber, which was supposed to be the job of Bobby and Becky."

Carol put on her helmet and suddenly lunged straight for Mrs. Johnson. However, the redhead easily blocked and struck back all of Carol's attacks. "We don't need to do this," the redheaded woman said calmly in the middle of the barrage. "Just tell me why you did that and-"

"No! That's a secret!" Carol snapped. "If I tell you why I'm doing this, then you'll never let me continue!"

The redheaded fencer rolled her eyes and swung the blonde fencer's epee back before forcing her to step back to the edge of the arena. However, just before she reached the edge, Carol leaped up high and aimed for Mrs. Johnson's shoulder, only for the redhead to block the attack, then struck Carol's hip just as she landed, causing the blonde fencer to collapse.

"I scored," Mrs. Johnson said as Carol clutched her struck hip. "I'm sorry that I hit one of your weak spots, but I needed to stun you so I could ask again."

Mrs. Johnson walked to the front of Carol, then crouched down and asked, "Why did you teach Lori about the three types?"

The blonde fencer gasped for air as she took off her mask and explained, "You know that Bobby and Becky are relatively new, and being the best student you have, I thought I could teach her better than they could."

Mrs. Johnson narrowed her eyes. "But all I did was tell her how those three types worked!" Carol hastily added. "Everything else was all Lori's doing! I just... I just wanted to teach her how to do it right... I didn't want her to pull off a bad first impression..."

"...That's not the only reason, isn't it?" the redheaded fencer stated.

The blonde fencer flinched, pretty much confirming Mrs. Johnson's suspicions. "Don't worry, I won't force you to tell me what this ulterior motive is," the redhead reassured. "However, in exchange, you will be left in charge of Lori. You'll be her mentor, and make sure she learns everything she needs to know. She'll be your responsibility, have I been clear?"

Carol looked at the redheaded woman for a moment, then nodded. "Good, now let's find some place to rest." Mrs. Johnson said as she helped Carol get up. "And then, you'll call Lori, and tell her the news, got it?"

The blonde fencer flinched, "B-But what if Lori gets the wrong idea?! She already doesn't like me 'cause I beat her for Homecoming queen, I don't want her to hate me even more!"

"You just have to do your best in explaining the situation to her," the redhead explained. "Lori is a mature young woman, she should be able to understand, and allow you to speak. Otherwise... Well, I might need to talk to Rita soon."

With all that said, it took a while of rest before Carol actually managed to come up with the courage to call Lori again. So she got up, slowly enough so her hips wouldn't react, then dialed Lori's number. And it wasn't long before the girl answered with a peculiar greeting:

"Literally hello?"

"Hello Lori, it's me, Carol," the blonde fencer said. "Sorry for rejecting your call a while ago. I hope you're not angry."

"Hey, if it was Bobby who hung up with me, then I'd be angry. In your case, though, I think It's okay, I guess," Lori answered, then quickly added. "As long as you have a valid reason for hanging up on me, that is."

"Got it," Carol sighed. "Listen, Lori, there's something I need to tell you-"

"There's something I need to tell you to," Lori blurted, immediately shutting up Carol. "My family already knows I'm practicing fencing, and in particular, Lynn doesn't seem to be happy about it."

The blonde top fencer could only flinch. Not that she had ever met or dealt with Lynn Loud before, if anything, she'd be a piece of cake if she even tried to practice fencing and tried to reach her level, but she had heard horror stories about her determination, her aggressive personality, and her farts.

Specially her farts.

However, what Lori said next eased her fears: "However, mom has already dealt with them just in case they tried to butt into my business, and specially in the case of Lynn, it'll be very hard for her to join without mom's help, and dad's certainly not gonna help her, so we don't need to worry about her."

"Phew, my heart skipped a beat there," Carol and Lori laughed for a bit, before Carol continued, "Well, what I needed to tell you was that... Well, I had a little discussion with Mrs. Johnson, over the things I taught you-"

"Oh right, what was that all about, by the way?"

"Listen, Lori, I have my reasons for doing what I do. The basic gist is, we fought, I lost-no surprise, since Mrs. Johnson is a much greater fencer than me, and she did hit my weak point-and in exchange for letting this slide, she tasked me to become your mentor, and teach you how to be a good fencer."

Lori, however, didn't respond right away. And who could blame her? She just heard Carol, the supposedly top best student, being defeated, and admitting that, Mrs. Johnson was the best fencer she knew. The only thing easing Lori's fear is the fact that, as long as she acted like a good girl, she wouldn't have to fight Mrs. Johnson.

"Lori?"

The young woman returned to reality. "Oh, huh? Y-Yeah, I heard you loud and clear."

Then she realized Luan was shooting a glare at her from afar. "Pun not intended."

Luan smiled and gave her a thumbs up before leaving... Then falling down the stairs. "Anyway, so, you're my master now?"

"That's pretty much it. Does it bother you?"

Lori's silence spoke for itself.

"Look, I know that we're not exactly on friendly terms, but I didn't even want this to happen! The situation went out of my control!" Carol then got an idea. "Listen, how about, this Wednesday, you go to my house-when I tell you, of course-and I introduce you to the other five?"

"Why would you think meeting the other top would calm me down?" Lori pointed out. "Wouldn't that literally make me even more anxious."

"Well, Lori, the rest of the top five are nothing like me. In fact, they're very nice," Carol smiled. "If you see how all top five act outside of the dojo, then perhaps you'll feel more at ease with the idea that I'll be teaching you."

"I guess so... Wait, if you'll teach me, then what are Becky and Bobby going to do?"

"They're students too, of Mrs. Johnson. So, what do you say?"

"... Literally, I don't think it would hurt to do that."

"Alright, do you still remember what I taught you about the three types of sabers used in fencing?"

"Yeah?"

"Practice with them while I organize everything for this Wednesday. You still have to go through the initiation test, after all."

"Practice until Wednesday. Got it."

The hung up, and while Carol fell back to continue resting before calling her fellow top five partners, Lori fell back on her bed and looked at the ceiling, still feeling slightly unsure about the whole situation. After all...

Why would Carol even do all of this?


	4. Top Five

_Wednesday, at the Loud's backyard..._

Lori practiced a couple thrusts with a wooden foil, with a wooden epee and saber laying around just in case she needed them. As she did this, her siblings-most notably Lincoln and Lynn-watched her practice nearby. Most were content to stand idle and watch, like Lucy and Lisa, or even happy about the sight, like Luna and Luan, but one thing was clear: Lynn held only resentment.

"I should be the one practicing with that thin, wood-sword-thing," the jock muttered as she folded her arms. "I mean, I'm the sports superstar! The sports queen! If they gave me a chance to do... Whatever Lori's doing, then I'd be able to be even better than her!"

"If you don't even know what she's doing to the point you can't even name the object she's holding, I highly doubt your capacity to support your claim," Lisa argued, adjusting her glasses.

"W-Well, mom should've at least let me try!" the jock snapped. "I'm far more experienced in this sports stuff than she is!"

"Lynn, you know that's exactly why mom picked Lori over you, it simply isn't anything new or exciting when you do it!" Luan argued, only to add, "Besides, we should _thrust_ Lori on this one!"

The pun earned the comedian a slap from Luna. "Yeah, okay, I totally deserved that," she said with a chuckle.

"Still, Luan has a point," Lincoln said, catching his sisters' attention. "From what I can see, she seems to have a pretty good grasp on this whole fencing thing. I mean, just look at her thrusts!"

"Yeah, but perhaps she'd have a better training experience with a partner," Lisa remarked with a shrug. "Then again, the only person who I believe would be a decent training partner would be Lynn."

The jock flinched, and looked away, prompting the genius to say, "And she doesn't seem to have any interest in doing that."

Lincoln glanced at the genius, then the grumpy athlete, and finally got off his seat and walked forward to his oldest sister. "Hey, Lori!" he called, immediately catching the fencer in-training's attention. "Lisa says that you could train better with a partner, and seeing how Lynn isn't willing, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind if I was your partner for today?"

"...Training... Partner?" the blonde slowly repeated, sounding almost confused.

And then she remembered something: "Wait, literally what time is it?"

Leni looked at the sky, and with curiosity, she hesitantly answered, "Day time?"

Suddenly, everybody heard a phone ringing, and Lori quickly checked her pockets and took out her phone. She immediately answered, and guess who was on the other end of the call:

"Hi Lori, it's me, Carol."

"Oh, hi," Lori glanced at her siblings, then went to behind the three to speak in private, while Lincoln-and to a lesser extent Leni-stopped the others from peeping. "So, is everything ready?"

"Yeah, I got the food, Hugh will come with the drinks soon enough, and the other top five are here. If you could come here right now, I would appreciate it."

"Got it!"

Lori hung up her phone, then came out of the tree... To see her siblings on a large pile. "I'm not even going to ask," she stated. "Listen, I have to go meet with someone over at their house. I might be gone for a while, so if you can... Well, I'll be eating there, so nevermind, I'll just be gone for a while, okay?"

The siblings nodded, and Lori promptly went to her bedroom to pack up her stuff, which immediately caught her mother's attention. "Where are you going, honey?"

"I'm going to Carol's house in order to meet the other top five students in the fencing dojo," the young woman answered as she hastily packed her stuff. "I might be gone for a while, and Carol already prepared some food, so you don't have to save me any food or anything."

"I thought you and that Carol girl weren't on good terms?" Rita pointed out.

Lori flinched and paused just as she finished packing. She mostly just stood still in shock, realizing she wasn't acting as angry about the whole ordeal as she should. But right now, she had to keep her priorities straight: meet the other top five, and train with Carol.

"We don't, but... Well, I'll explain after I return."

The young woman finished her backpack, and walked to the door as her siblings and mother saw her go. "Good luck on your training!" Lincoln managed to blurt before the blonde trainee left.

Lori paused, turned to her family, then winked at them before leaving off to Carol's house. Granted, it wasn't long before their proud silence was broken:

"Can I have Lori's ration?" Lynn eagerly asked, raising her arm.

This earned the jock an annoyed look from pretty much everybody else in the room. "Hey, as an actual athlete, I have a lot of energy to replenish!"

"Yeah, I bet crying and whining about how Lori got into a sport instead of you must take a lot of energy," Luan quipped, laughing alongside her siblings before asking, "Get it?" twice, all while Lynn felt her rage surging through her body.

 _Meanwhile, at Carol's house..._

Carol was serving some food to her fellow five, well, four, since Hugh was out buying some drinks: Some burgers, salads, and so on, and as she did this, she couldn't help but glance at the clock. The time for Lori's visit had come, and she had that big announcement to make to her fellow-

"Hey," Maggie blurted.

Oh right, they're still there.

"Something's bothering you, isn't it?" the emo inquired.

Carol flinched at the question, and this no doubt caught her fellows' attention. "W-What are you talking about?" the young lady said, trying to divert the attention. "I'm perfectly fine! T-There's nothing to-"

"Uh huh, you're trying to say everything's fine, that must mean something really is bothering you," the emo folded her arms. "I should know, I'm an expert in this kind of thing."

"I should've known trying to trick you wouldn't work," Carol sighed. "Well, it's a private matter, Maggie-"

"Got it," Maggie got up. "Everybody, have fun, Carol and I are going upstairs to discuss whatever's bothering her."

And so, the emo and Carol walked upstairs as Dana and Teri pretty much remained behind and started eating.

Once upstairs, Maggie closed the door, then sat on the bed as Carol could only wait for the inevitable question. Which, of course, the emo asked without warning:

"What's wrong?"

Carol sighed again, and took a deep breath to gather the courage to reveal her issue. And yet, she still felt hesitant.

"You see, Maggie," she said. "I invited you and the other top five to tell you... About an announcement. And... Well, I invited someone else-"

"Who?"

"...Lori Loud."

Maggie, unsurprisingly, wasn't very shocked at the revelation. The most she did was raise an eyebrow, in a cautious manner, yes, but nothing more than that. "The girl that you humiliated back at the homecoming incident?"

"I wasn't trying to humiliate her!" Carol snapped, stomping the ground while Maggie... Barely even reacted to the outburst. "I just got so happy, I... I did things without thinking about the consequences!"

"I know, and I'm not going to blame you for it," the emo answered, getting the top fencer to calm down, if only a bit. "All I want to know is if this is the same Lori as that incident."

"...Yes," Carol grabbed her arm. "She is."

Maggie nodded and took a deep breath. "Alright, so, I'm going to guess this announcement is related to Lori? Perhaps something happened at the dojo that caused you to enter through some sort of situation with Lori, and this announcement is simply your way of trying to deal with it, hopefully with our help along the way?"

Carol could only blink at the scarily... Semi-accurate statement made by the emo. "How did you even come close to that conclusion?"

"Mom's a therapist, and she usually brings me to her consults to act as a sort of "emotional clutch" for her patients sometimes," Maggie got up and put a hand on Carol's shoulder. "Anyway, all I want you to know is, regardless of what the other top five say, you got my backup."

Then, sharing smiles with the emo, Carol replied, "Thanks, Maggie. Now I just need to worry about how the rest will take it."

"And worry about when Lori's coming."

Then they heard the doorbell ringing.

"Nevermind."

 _Outside the house..._

Lori nervously tapped the ground with her foot as she waited for Carol to answer. She glanced at her wrist, only to realize she forgot to bring a watch, and just as she pondered if she forgot anything else, Carol opened the door and greeted Lori with a calm smile.

"H-Hi, Carol," Lori nervously greeted as she went inside. "I'm here for my training, and to meet the other top five as well."

"Got it, please take a seat."

Lori sat down on the couch, and once she got a wink from Maggie, Carol took a deep breath before sitting next to Lori... Who made it evident she wasn't comfortable with this.

"Well, since one of the top five went to get something, here are three of the top five of the fencing dojo," Carol said before pointing at the specific members and saying, "You got me, "Rookie Crusher" Maggie, "Italian Slicer" Teri, and "Painful Pleasure" Dana."

"Huh, they even got titles and all," Lori remarked as she looked at the members in order. "Though Maggie's title in particular creeps me out, and Dana's-"

And then she reached Dana, and the memories of when she thought Bobby was cheating on her came flashing.

"Hey, wait a minute, you're one of Bobby's friends!" Lori remarked, narrowing her eyes at the bitter memories.

"Yeah, I'm Dana, nice to see you again!" she greeted as she very tightly shook Lori's hand, causing the young woman to wince in pain. "Full name's Dana Pain, if you're wondering!"

"Dana, please stop introducing yourself with your family name," Carol scoffed as she separated the duo. "I can't teach Lori anything if her good hand's broken."

"Oh, so you're the new student Carol was talking about earlier?" Dana asked before scratching her head in embarrassment. "Sorry! I didn't mean to give such a strong first impression!"

"How is she so dang strong?!" Lori whined as she caught her breath.

"The Pain family is very well known for having unnaturally strong members," the top fencer explained as she helped Lori settle her hand down. "And besides, Dana may be quite strong, more so than her sister Polly, but she's nothing compared to her older brother, Hugh."

"Hugh?" the blonde trainee got an idea. "Just to be sure, are we talking about a guy with brown hair, who wears a pink shirt, has something of a British accent-"

Dana quickly answered, "Yeah, that's the one!"

"Hugh... Pain..." Lori snickered, but managed to hold back as she said underneath her chuckles. "Oh man, of all the family names he could've gotten-"

"Say, why didn't you tell me you were Carol's student in the first place?" Dana inquired, catching the duo's attention. "I would've tried to hold back on my hand shaking if you had said so."

Lori and Carol looked at each other, and Lori looked away as Carol turned to Dana and explained. "Lori and I are not on friendly terms. In fact, the only reason we're teacher and student, is because it's part of a deal I made with Mrs. Johnson-"

"Why?"

Carol took a deep breath. "I fought her-"

"Again?" the other top five, who weren't Maggie, asked.

"And I lost-"

"Again?!"

"Wait, you've fought her before?" Lori asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know how the old proverb goes, the student's supposed to surpass the master and all that," Carol somberly answered as she shook her head. "And, ever since the... Homecoming incident, I've tried my hardest to achieve and go past all challenges: Live up to the title of homecoming queen, never slack off and never give up, be a good-"

Lori's eyes grew wide, and this gave Carol the indication to change the subject. Hopefully, none of the rest of the top five noticed that little detail.

"I mean, surpass the strongest of foes," she quickly corrected. "But no matter how many times I try, that woman beats me! Either by hitting my weak point, or just by being superior to me in every way! It's almost like she wasn't even human!"

"That last part implies you've fought her multiple times," Lori pointed out, narrowing her eyes. She felt highly... Curious. "How many times did you fight with her?"

Naturally, Carol snapped at the insensitive question. "Ugh, what kind of person keeps track on how many times they've lost or failed at something?!"

Lori immediately started to think of some people that could fit the description: First Lincoln, then Clyde, then herself, but she quickly dismissed all of those thoughts and just said, "Yeah, can't think of anybody who does that."

"Well, you already met Dana, so let me introduce myself next," Maggie said, catching Lori's attention before offering a hand shake. "I'm Maggie Swagger. I'll be your opponent at the initiation test."

"W-Wait a minute, you mean to tell me in order to join the dojo, I'm supposed to beat one of the top five students?!" Lori exclaimed, flinching so heard she almost made the couch fall backwards. "I mean, even if she's the weakest-no offense-of the five, she's still one of the top five! There's no way I can beat her!"

"You don't necessarily need to beat me," Maggie shook her head. "Yes, you'll face me, but the point of the test isn't to defeat me. However, I can't tell you anymore, you'll have to wait until the day the test starts to learn what it actually entails."

"Yeah, and besides, it's about darn time I introduced myself!" Teri exclaimed, before essentially shaking Lori's hand. "Teri DiMartino, pizza maker extraordinaire and saber expert, at your service!"

"Uh, h-hi, nice to meet you," Lori separated from Teri's hand, and rubbed it as the woman chuckled a little. "So, a saber expert, you say?"

"Yeah, precisely!" Teri folded her arms. "And I don't mean to boast, but I strike so fast and hard, it's easier for my opponents to spot the pain rather than my strike!"

"I tend to try avoid fighting her whenever possible," Carol muttered. "Alright, since you already know me, we'll just have to wait for Hugh to arrive so we can end introductions, then eat and drink for a bit, then train with you."

The girls looked at Carol. "Don't worry, only I'll train her."

Everybody sighed in relief-though Lori's worry didn't ease a bit-and as the girls waited for Hugh to return with some drinks, Lori spotted a particular sight about Carol. She was gently grabbing her hips with her hands, and taking a deep breath every so often. Naturally, Maggie also noticed this, and immediately gestured Dana to call someone, which she did.

"Come here, quick," she whispered.

"Why?"

"Just come!"

And so she hung up and hid her phone to avoid being detected by Lori. Not that it was an issue, since Lori seemed a bit too interested in Carol's hips to notice. "Is something wrong with your hips?" she innocently asked.

The question caused Carol to flinch and shoot a glare at the young woman, who hastily explained herself: "I-I mean, you're grabbing them gently like that, and well, you just seem a bit more vulnerable like that-"

"I-It's nothing, please don't pay attention to it!" Carol sternly stated, all while mentally pleading, " _Please don't try to touch them, please don't try to touch them, please don't try to touch them..._ "

Lori, miraculously enough, decided to leave Carol alone for the time... Then turn to the other three females around and ask, "Do any of you know what's up with her?"

Teri opened her mouth, but Maggie and Dana quickly shut her up before she could utter a single word. And just as Lori pondered why they would do that, a miracle happened:

Hugh arrived! With drinks! And his mere arrival immediately caught Lori's attention, taking tension away from the room and letting Dana and Maggie release Teri's mouth.

"Hi! I'm back from getting some beverages!" Hugh chirped as he settled the drinks down, then sat next to her sister, Dana. Then, as he wrapped his arm around Dana-who clearly felt embarrassed by this-he asked, "So, what happened while I was gone?"

"Carol just told us that she's the mentor of Lori, the new girl in the dojo and the one sitting near us, after she fought-and lost-to Mrs. Johnson," Maggie sternly answered, rolling her eyes.

"Again?!" Hugh rubbed his forehead. "Carol, darling, you should know by now that you can't just strike the owner of the dojo and expect to win!"

"I didn't strike first! Becky tattled on me and Mrs. Johnson decided to punish me!" the blonde fencer snapped, flailing her arms up and down. "Listen, we got everything clear: Lori's my student, I foolishly thought I could fight against Mrs. Johnson, and now she's met all of you."

"Which reminds me, aren't you supposed to be training me right now?" the fencer in-training pointed out, catching everybody's attention. "I mean, I practiced back home like you told me, but my brother did bring up a good point: Training with a partner would be better than doing so alone."

"Right, we'll get to that eventually, but first," Carol grabbed a sandwich and snapped it in half. "Have a drink and some food, you're probably hungry."

And so, everybody ate and drank for a while, and just talked around like normal people. It almost made Lori forget she was interacting with the top five students of the whole fencing dojo.

 _Sometime later, at the backyard..._

Lori put her backpack on the ground and checked to see if she at least brought her stuff, all while Carol stood in the middle of the land and the other top five sat nearby. She did have her wooden foil, but that was about it.

Not that it mattered, since Carol quickly whistled and caught her attention. "Lori, we're only going to check if you remember the basics, that's all. Get over here already."

Upon hearing that, Lori nodded and immediately went to the arena, then put on a battle stance.

"Alright, Lori, are you ready to begin?" Carol asked a she raised her saber.

Lori hesitated; she glanced at her foil, then at the other top five looking at her, alongside Carol's look, implying she wasn't going to let the young woman waste her time. So, with determination surging through her body, the blonde raised her foil and proclaimed:

"I'm ready!"

"Fair enough, now show how prepared you are through actions," Carol get ready to attack. "Now, tell me the three types of blades used in fencing!"

Carol repeatedly thrust, with Lori narrowly dodging each strike as she hastily listed, "Foil, epee, and saber!"

"The rules of the foil!" Carol exclaimed.

Then, as Carol thrusted and Lori managed to dodge the strikes, she quickly said, "Hit with the tip, only the torso!"

Carol paused, then shouted, "The rules of the epee!"

She thrusted again, though this time she was trying to hit any point of Lori's body, giving her a little hint. "Hit with the tip, anywhere in the body!"

"And finally, the rules of the saber!"

This time, it was Lori's time to strike, which she did as she stated, "Hit with the side, the upper body!"

However, she slipped on something just as she got ready to strike Carol's waist, which caused her to aim for the hips. However, just as everybody realized this, Maggie leaped off her seat, then took out a saber and blocked Lori's strike as the blonde trainee hit the ground face-first. With that done, the emo looked at Carol-who was paralyzed with fear-with a reassuring look, then a smile, letting her know the danger was done for now.

So, Carol calmed down, took a deep breath, then stated, "That should be enough for today, Lori. Keep in mind what we talked about today, and if you need to train some more, don't doubt about calling me."

Lori got up-with some help from the other top five-then said "G-Got it" as she dusted herself. "So, do you mind if I ask a question? Why did you look so afraid

"'Cause it was a wrong move," Maggie bluntly stated, catching everybody's attention. "The hips are below the waist, while in saberplay you're not supposed to hit anything below that. Carol just got scared you were about to commit a move that would get you disqualified in an actual battle."

"Y-Yeah, what Maggie said," Carol stated. "But right now, we're done. You may go home."

Lori smiled, and everybody bid farewell before the blonde left... All while a certain redhead known as Becky watched from afar in the shadows.


	5. Initiation Test

**So, originally, I was going to wait until I finished the next chapter before posting this one. However, I'm confident that, since the next chapter doesn't have as much going on as in this one, I'm positive I can get it finished. Besides, it's about darn time Lori proved herself, wouldn't you agree?**

 **So anyway, let's move on!**

* * *

 _At the Fencing Dojo's parking lot..._

The vanzilla parked right outside the fencing dojo, and the Loud siblings-and Lincoln-came out with their parents. Lori obviously came out, it was the day for the initiation test after all, but her siblings came out looking like they were going to a baseball game, but with a more... Lori theme.

Leni wore a shirt saying "Literally" on the stomach, Luna and Luan looked like a pair of groupies-with their clothes forming one half of a heart included-and Lynn, alongside Lincoln and most of the younger Louds minus Lisa and Lily, were dressed as cheerleaders, with uniforms with a color scheme similar to Lori's clothing, mostly blue with some occasional browns in there. Lisa and Lily remained their usual selves, though Lisa at least held a "Go Lori" flag.

"Alright everybody, here we are," Lynn Sr. remarked as he and his family walked into the dojo. "Now, let's go see where the initiation test will take place."

"And remember everybody, stay in your best mood and behave," Rita said, before shooting a glare at the freckled tomboy cheerleader. "That specially applies to you, Lynn."

"Me?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"No, our daughter."

"I still don't understand why Lori was picked over me," Lynn started, only to snap at Lincoln. "But I specially don't understand why Lincoln's one of the cheerleaders as well! I mean, how does that make any sense?!"

"Hey, at least I'm trying to cheer up on our sister," Lincoln answered, before striking a pose. "It's not my fault I look so much better on the uniform than you do."

"I never said that outright!"

"But you thought about it!"

Lola and Lana went "oooh" while Lynn rolled her eyes, blushing as red as a tomato.

"Guys, I appreciate the... Motivation you're giving me, but could you at least wait until the test starts before going overboard?" Lori requested, scratching the back of her head. "I mean, most of you alone should catch a lot of unneeded attention."

"What else did you expect, sweetie?" Rita asked, patting her first daughter's back. "You're finally going to prove everybody how your training during this whole week has paid off! It's only natural that your siblings would like to cheer you on."

"Actually, I'd rather focus on my experiments, but I figured that if Lori fails, I can use that as an excuse to experiment on her until she becomes the ultimate fencer in Royal Woods," Lisa pointed out, waving her flag along the way. "Even so, I'm cheering you on, eldest sister unit."

Suddenly, Luan leaped to Lori and hugged her as tightly as she could. "And in case you win, wait no, scratch that, _when_ you win, we'll be here to shower you with praise and admiration and a lot of other good things!"

Then she gave a playful look to Luna. "And remember, I'll be your day groupie, while Luna'll be your night groupie!"

"Fittingly enough," Luna remarked, rubbing her forehead at the hidden pun.

"Actually, while we're still on this subject," Lynn uttered, catching everybody's attention. "Who is Lori even going up against? I mean, it's not like we've been told she just needs to show she knows the basics to enter, if that was the case, everybody could enter like it was no issue."

"I hate to say it, but Meatball Fart's got a point," Lisa said as Lynn threw a glare at her, and everybody else chuckled at the nickname. "We haven't heard anything about her opponent yet, and like she says, it's very unlikely that this initiation test would only be about showing she knows the basics. It only makes sense to pit her up against someone else to prove she's not a waste of the teacher's time."

"Now, everybody, remember that the point we allowed you to come here was to cheer up on your sister and give her confidence," Rita said, patting Lori's shoulder as she shot a glare at her children and added, "Which is not what you're doing right now. I mean, asking whether she'll have an opponent in the initiation test-"

"She does have an opponent."

Everybody turned around and stood their ground as they were approached by a familiar person. Well, she was familiar to Lori, Lincoln, and Luan.

It was Maggie, who kept her stern look as she walked to the trainee.

"What do you want, Maggie?" the blonde trainee inquired.

"Today, you'll go through the initiation test, Lori," Maggie remarked, looking to her left and right before adding, "Perhaps you'd like me to go easy on you, so you can enter the dojo with ease?"

"Lori, who is this girl?" Rita asked as the rest of her family looked at the emo fencer with caution.

"This is "Rookie Crusher" Maggie-"

"Dang, she must be a big deal if she has a nickname like that," Lynn remarked, folding her arms as Lincoln added, "Or a nickname in the first place."

"I'm the fifth of the top five fencing students in the dojo," Maggie explained before putting a hand on Lori's shoulder as she added. "My main job is to test people who want to become a student of Mrs. Johnson, and I wanted to see if Lori would like to do the test normally, or if she wouldn't mind if I went easy on her."

However, just as the blonde fencer saw her mother smile in relief, she pretty much realized something: she just met Maggie a couple days ago, and didn't see her again until today, so why would she be offering to go easy on Lori...

If she wasn't testing her or something.

"I don't want to join dojo thanks to some privilege or treatment I'm given," Lori stated, surprising both Rita and Maggie, though the latter seemed to be more so in approval, while the former did it in shock. "So go all out, and I'll see if I can really match up with you."

Suddenly, a whistle was heard, and the emo and Lori bid farewell as Maggie took Lori with her to the trainees that would take the test. Once there, Lori waved hello to her fellow trainees-Bobby, and some other people-before Maggie spoke to her:

"Well, I have to go take my stand now, so I'll be blunt," Maggie leaned towards Lori's ear, and with a kind, motherly tone, whispered, "I'm proud of you, girl."

With that said, Maggie went to test the other trainees while Lori sat down to wait for her turn. And as she waited, she watched how Maggie dealt with the other trainees:

First, Maggie confronted Becky, who managed to pass the test, if only barely. She did manage to notice that the emo used a saber most of the time, so the most important thing to keep in mind would be side strikes.

Next, she fought against a young girl wearing a panda hat. She put up a good fight, but alas, Maggie managed to beat her after a short while. She still got some points for trying, though.

Finally, she faced off against Bobby, and it wasn't so much a normal match as it was a beating entirely on her favor. Then again, Maggie did seem to regret going hard on the guy, if her helping him get up and comforting him was any indication.

And the remainder of the trainees were unremarkable at best, up until it was Lori's turn. Right then and there, the blonde was so focused on looking at the emo fencer-hoping to find some sort of weakness in her style-before she heard a voice say:

"Lori?"

She snapped back to reality, then turned around to see Lincoln and her other cheerleader siblings nearby. "It's your turn, Lori, time to show everybody what you got," Lincoln said with a smile. "And remember, no matter what, we'll be cheering you on!"

"Some more begrudgingly than others," Lynn added, earning a jab from Lana.

"Got it, thanks everybody," Lori took a deep breath. "Okay, time to literally face my first of many challenges."

And so, the young woman put on the suit and helmet, then walked forward to the arena. As she went there, she noticed that not only was Maggie looking at her, but the rest of the audience as well, though some seemed more content to look at her own, blatantly cheering family instead. But in particular, two watchers caught her attention:

Carol, who sat alongside the other top five that weren't Maggie, and Mrs. Johnson, who sat on the seats above them and with Becky by her side.

"Alright, Lori, we'll go through all three types of fencing swords," Maggie explained, returning the blonde trainee to reality. "First foil, then epee, and finally saber. We'll continue until you manage to hit me, and once you or I strike a point, we continue to the next style. Once you've finished all three styles, I want you to try and beat me in actual combat. If you manage to do all that, and score more points than me, you'll pass the test."

Maggie reached for her back, then took out a foil before adding, "And if you make any mistakes, Becky and Mrs. Johnson will keep count. Do three, and you're out."

Then, she put on a battle stance as she took out another foil, which she threw to Lori as she added, "Have I been clear?"

Though a bit intimidated by the emo's stern glare, Carol's reassuring smile, and her family's blatantly overblown cheering and excitement, gave the blonde enough resolve to catch the foil and state, as she tightly gripped it:

"Crystal clear."

And so, the teenagers stood still for a moment, before the two engaged in combat upon hearing Mrs. Johnson blow a trumpet. As they fought, Maggie managed to tell Lori, "First type, the foil."

The style was a no brainer to Lori at this point. "Hit with the tip, only the torso!"

The girls' fencing swords clashed as the two tried to catch the other off-guard, with Lori clenching her teeth as she tried to keep the emo from striking her, while Maggie continued to look stern and stoic. Eventually, the pair separated a little, and Maggie thrust, giving Lori the chance to strike her right in the stomach, scoring a point.

However, the cheering from the Louds was short-lived as Maggie replaced her foil with an epee, then swapped Lori's foil with another epee without the blonde even noticing. And by the time she did notice, the emo shouted:

"Second type, the epee!"

Lori, startled at the shout, dodged the strikes as she hastily answered, "Hit with the tip, anywhere!"

The girl continued to dodge or block the strikes as needed, since it would be very easy for Maggie to hit her, get a point, then move on. However, the young woman managed to get her footing and clash epees with Maggie... For about a second before Maggie made her drop her guard, letting her strike her shoulder. Now the score was even.

This didn't stop the Louds from cheering on Lori, Which both Mrs. Johnson and Maggie took notice of. However, while Mrs. Johnson glared at Rita, Maggie focused on Lori and said:

"Your family seems to have a lot of faith in you," she swapped both epees for sabers. "Make sure you don't disappoint them. Third type, the saber!"

Lori narrowed her eyes and stated, "Hit with the side, above the waist!"

"Good," Maggie uttered with a smile.

The duo clashed sabers repeatedly as the audience watched closely. Most of them, in particular the Loud family, were watching with anxiety, wondering what the outcome would be. The top five, Mrs. Johnson and her daughter, however, were considerably calmer.

"I don't think we should worry, mom," Lucy remarked, catching Rita-and the rest of her family's-attention. "I have read several "rising underdog" stories. You know, the ones that deal with an underdog-type character? It's common to begin with the underdog on the ropes, then things get even, only for the underdog to defeat the obstacle at the very last second."

"I must agree with our poetic sister," Lisa added. "After all, Lori lost in the second type because the rules state any part can be hit. She was also caught off-guard, at least, from how I see it. As long as she stays focused, she's most likely going to win."

"Then she better keep fighting seriously," Lynn folded her arms. "Otherwise, she's really going to regret it."

"Oh come on Lynn, can you quit your pessimism just this once?" Lincoln complained, putting his hands on his hips. "Seriously, could you at least try to cheer her up, just like the others and I are doing?"

"Lincoln, don't you see it?" the jock asked, earning a confused look from her siblings. "Ever since this test started, Maggie has been on the offensive, and as you saw, the instant Lori let her guard down, Maggie took the chance to strike."

"What are you getting at?" the twins asked in unison.

"Maggie isn't holding back at all," the jock revealed with a stern look. "And now that the score is even, if Lori leaves herself open for even a single second, then she's done for."

Lincoln-and pretty much the rest of the family-grimaced in horror. But now, despite wanting to help her win, all they could do right now was watch the match and hope for the best. And as the match went on, Lori and Maggie were evenly matched once more, coming to a head with a saber clash, then another, then one that wound up with the duo staring at each other again, determination burning in their eyes.

Once the clashed stopped, the duo went for one final swing... With Lori hitting at the side of Maggie's side with the saber, scoring another point, and securing her victory. With that done, the trainees-most notably Bobby-and the Loud family rejoiced as Maggie and Lori separated, bowed at each other, then left and went back to their respective teams. And while Maggie was comforted by the other top five, Lori was showered with nothing but praise.

"I'm so proud of you, Lori!" Rita said as she hugged her oldest daughter as hard as she could. "I always knew you'd be able to pass!"

"Yeah, it brought back some good memories too," Lynn Sr. added, putting his hands on his pockets. "Like the first time I did the initiation test, though it was nothing like the one you just did."

This sparked Lori's interest. "You tried to do fencing once, dad?"

"Yeah, with tried being the keyword there," the man frowned. "I never could get far in my training, but I kept trying and trying to pass the test, until I finally did it. After that, though, it wasn't long before I decided to quit it and focus on other things. Like raising a family."

Lori rolled her eyes at the statement. "And before you say anything, I don't want you to try and do what I wanted to do," Lynn Sr. added, surprising both Lori and his wife. "I want you to do your own thing, do it at your own pace, and most importantly, be yourself."

"I will, dad, but why point that out to me now?" Lori raised an eyebrow.

"I just want to make sure you don't get the wrong message," the man turned to the rest of his kids. "Alright, everybody, let's go back home. We're having pizza for dinner!"

And then, just as the Louds were starting to cheer about it-and potentially causing a lot of property damage to the dojo-Mrs. Johnson whistled and caught the family's attention as she walked to them. Specially Lori.

"Do you mind if I speak with Lori, alone?" the redheaded master asked. "There's something I need to talk with him."

"It's just some more praise for her, isn't it?" Lynn guessed, folding her arms. "Well, sorry Mrs. Johnson, but we got that area covered. And we also have pizza to go to!"

A single glare was all Mrs. Johnson needed to do to get the jock to shut up. No words, no warnings, just a simple glare. "Now, Mrs. Loud," Mrs. Johnson turned to Lori. "Let's go."

The fencer in-training followed

"What do you want to discuss, Mrs. Johnson?" Lori asked, slightly nervous.

"You heard what your father said, he used to practice fencing," Mrs. Johnson answered with a stern look. "And you know how your mother was the one who signed you up for lessons."

The blonde understandably flinched. "W-Wait, how did you-?"

"Becky told me," the girl came out of the shadows as her mother added, "She primarily works as my eyes in the dojo: She's supposed to look around and inform of anything that catches her eye. And she heard your father mentioning that stuff. Anyway, you got that clear?"

Lori eyed the redheaded spy before nervously answering, "Well, yeah, so?"

"Listen, I don't want to make you think she's planning something, but don't you think the fact your father tried fencing, and your mother signed you up for it, is a little suspicious? I mean, your father used to practice fencing, and then your mother decides to sign you up for fencing classes."

"...Well, when you say it like that, it does sound weird..." Lori shook off the idea. "But it might just be a coincidence."

"Of course, I'm telling you about this so you can keep an eye out on it," Mrs. Johnson narrowed her eyes. "I'm not sure your mother is so trustworthy, Mrs. Loud. Be careful."

And so, the dojo master and her daughter left Lori, who was soon approached by another familiar face: Carol. This sight turned Lori's mood from nervous in a worried way, to nervous in an angry way. "What do you want?" she hissed.

"I just want to let you know that you did pretty well in the test," Carol answered, causing Lori to raise an eyebrow. "Don't let the fact that you failed the epee test drag you down, most people have trouble with that style"

"Yeah, literally almost nobody managed to pass that," Lori rolled her eyes. "I think Becky was the only exception, and even then, that was just 'cause she struck Maggie before she had a chance to do so."

"Yeah... Anyway, I came here to give you this too," Carol handed Lori the dojo schedule. "This is the schedule that you're expected to follow now that you're officially training here. It's only on Wednesday and the weekend, so it shouldn't be much of a hassle to you."

"2 to 5... 3 to 6... Yeah, I can deal with this schedule," Lori saved the schedule on her pockets, then took a deep breath before saying, "Thank you, Carol."

The top fencer blushed and smiled, obviously flattered by the comment, causing Lori to blush and look away as well. The two were supposed to be rivals of sort, but it definitely didn't seem like it at that moment.

"W-Well, I should go back to my group," Carol said, turning around. "See you tomorrow, Lori."

"Wait, tomorrow?" the blonde repeated in confusion.

Then came Carol's revelation: "Yeah, today's Saturday, remember? Again, see you tomorrow."

Carol left, and a shocked Lori returned to her family, who promptly noticed her as she said, "I start fencing classes tomorrow."

"Aw, that's great honey!" Rita answered, seemingly oblivious to her daughter's worry. "Don't worry, just pay attention and you'll manage to go up the ranks in no time. For now, let's focus on the pizza, alright?"

Lori smiled and nodded, with her siblings leaving her alone to rest, and to worry internally about the upcoming training. Though, she didn't really worry for long, since the pizza she had soon after brought up her mood, not completely erasing her fears, but calming her to think that she should worry about that stuff later. After all...

Tomorrow was another day.


	6. The Next Day

_Next day, at the Loud House..._

Lynn watched from the keyhole of Lori and Leni's bedroom as the fencer in-training packed her stuff for the fencing dojo. For the most part, she simply looked at Lori with slight sympathy, since she did seem to be pretty altered due to it being her first day at the dojo, while she thought that it could've been her in that spot. At the very least, she wouldn't be panicking right then and-

"Seeing something you like?"

The jock flinched at the sudden statement, then turned around and punched the source... Which was Leni, who not only was giving the athlete a deadpan look, but seemed to be completely unaffected by her attack."

"L-Leni?" Lynn calmed down and put her fist down. "What are you-"

"We got over ten sisters, do you really think you won't get caught while spying on Lori?" Leni pointed out, folding her arms. "Listen, if you're so worried about Lori, how about you go inside and cheer her up?"

"Why don't you go cheer her up instead?!" Lynn snapped. "Why do I have to do it?!"

"'Cause you're the one who's been, like, whining about Lori getting into fencing all this time!" Leni responded. "It'll mean more if _you_ cheer her up!"

The athlete flinched at the logical response, and promptly-and slowly-entered the bedroom. Once she was there, she saw Lori sitting on her bed, with her recently fully packed backpack resting by her side. She glanced back at the door, where her siblings popped out to gesture her to go already before leaving, and the jock took a deep breath and went forward...

"Before you say anything, I know how you feel," Lori said, catching Lynn off-guard. "You're the sports superstar of the family. An athlete worthy of the Olympics. No wonder you're so upset mom picked me over you for fencing classes."

Now feeling bad thanks to those words, Lynn sat next to her oldest sister and said, "W-Well, if it's of any comfort, I'm not as angry right now as I used to be. Specially with how you passed the initiation test yesterday, that was pretty cool."

"Thanks, I guess," Lori brushed her sister's hair. "I'll have to go soon, so try not to wreck the whole house while I'm away, alright?"

"I can't make any promises, Lori," the jock scoffed. "I mean, if I don't wreck it, one of our other siblings will probably do it."

Lori chuckled. "That's so true," then she frowned. "Sad, but true."

Then, Lori got up and stretched, "Well, I have to go to the dojo right now, I don't wanna keep Mrs. Johnson waiting."

The fencing blonde grabbed her fencing stuff and her suit, then quickly went to the vanzilla before Lynn got a phone call, from a peculiar contact:

"Polly Pain?"

 _A bit later, at the fencing dojo parking lot..._

Lori, alongside Lynn Sr. and Rita, parked the vanzilla and took the time to look at the fencing dojo. "Well, sweetheart, today's your first day as an actual fencing student," Lynn Sr. said before turning to Lori. "How do you feel?"

"I'm not gonna lie, I'm literally very nervous right now," Lori took a deep breath. "Also, why did you drive? I could've drove the vanzilla just fine."

"Nonsense, you need to focus on using your arms for fencing, darling," Rita put a hand on Lori's shoulder. "Now go and enjoy your first day."

Lori nodded and left with all her stuff, with her parents talking about something as she went inside, first Lynn Sr., "So, do you have your gift for our anniversary ready?"

Followed by Rita, "Oh, honey, I got the best gift you could ever hope to get."

That was all Lori could hear before she entered the dojo and approached Mrs. Johnson, who was watching Becky and Carol engaging in a little fencing brawl. It wasn't long before Mrs. Johnson spotted her, and put on a smile.

"Oh, Mrs. Loud, I'm glad you could make it," the redheaded woman turned to the fencing duo. "Carol, Becky, quit your little brawl, Lori just arrived."

Then, with a stern tone, she added, "And don't try to strike Carol's hips at the last minute, Becky."

The redhead fencer flinched and stopped at the last second, shivering as Carol took off her helmet, stuck out her tongue at her, then went to the trainee. "So, are you ready for your lesson?" Carol asked with a smile.

"Yeah, but, where are the other students?" Lori took a look around. "This place looks literally empty."

"That's because the way the dojo is structure is different than most: Rather than everybody studying in a single room, the dojo has five rooms, where the students go to train under one of the top five," Mrs. Johnson explained as a helmet-less Becky went to her side. "Some study under Dana, some others study under Maggie, or Hugh, and so on."

"And since you're my responsibility, you'll train with me on my room," Carol offered her hand to Lori. "So, follow me, okay?"

Lori, sighing in frustration, grabbed Carol's hand and the duo walked to Carol's dojo room as Becky watched them leave. Just as they left and the redhead decided to follow them, however, she was stopped by a simple statement:

"Becky, stop."

Becky obliged immediately, and turned to the source of the voice: Mrs. Johnson.

"I have a special assignment for you," the dojo master said. "I need you to go to the Loud house."

The redhead raised an eyebrow, while her mother just... Smirked.

 _Meanwhile, at Carol's dojo room..._

Carol and Lori went into the room, with Lori releasing Carol's hand before taking a look around. It was fairly normal, if a bit empty: A circular arena in the middle of the room, a couple of benches to the side, the remaining top five sitting on them-

Wait, the remaining top five?

"Hi! Bet'cha didn't see us coming, did you, lovebirds?" Teri giggled.

"L-lovebirds?!" Lori stuttered as Carol went forth to the circular arena. "We're just master and student! Nothing more, nothing less!"

"Relax, Lori, Teri's just teasing you," Hugh as as he and his colleagues got off the benches. "Look, we came here to properly congratulate you for passing the initiation test, and also to give you our contact numbers."

"Contact... Numbers?"

"Phone numbers, basically," Maggie answered.

"Here! Have mine first!" Dana leaped, landed in front of Lori, then showed her two phone numbers. "The one on the right is mine, the one on the left is Hugh's! He feels a lot more comfortable knowing you're no longer acting like when you met him for the first time!"

"Not a time I'm very fond to remember," Lori remarked as she promptly got Maggie and Teri's phone numbers next.

"And remember, if you ever feel like talking or need to ask a favor, don't hesitate to call us!" Teri winked. "We'll try to help you whatever way we can! Or at least, I will.

"In that case... Please... Don't make this any more awkward than it already is," Lori requested.

Carol raised an eyebrow. "Why would this be awkward?"

"Have you forgotten what you did to me back in the homecoming queen party?" Lori hissed as she leaned closer to the top fencer. "Did you seriously forget the humiliation you put me through in that party?!"

Suddenly, Maggie jumped in between the duo and separated them, "Whoa, hold it right there, you're supposed to be focusing on fencing training-"

"Hey, I'm just trying to make this sure this jerk doesn't get the chance to humiliate me again!" Lori snapped at the emo. "She hurt my dignity once before, and I won't let her do it again!"

"Then you better give it your all when you eventually have to fight her," Teri remarked, rolling her eyes. "After all, you already beat Maggie, so you're on your way to climbing the hierarchy."

"But I only managed to beat Maggie in the initiation test," Lori pointed out.

"Initiation test or not, you still managed to pass the test, if just barely," Maggie quickly added as she walked to the blonde fencer. "If you recall, only you and Becky were able to actually pass the test, nobody else managed to do that."

"And I'm still very sad about that, since I won't be able to see Bobby Boo Boo Bear in that fencing suit anymore," Lori shook her head. "Oh well, at least I don't have to worry about him cheating on me with Becky anymore!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you never had any to worry about in the first place," Maggie folded her arms. "Becky's too much of a snitch to give love and romance a shot."

"Snitch?" Lori scratched her chin. "Well, Mrs. Johnson did tell me that Becky was her spy, of sorts, in the dojo-"

"Oh, she's far worse than that," Dana frowned. "Even when she's not fencing, Becky watches all or most fencing students with a hawk's eye, and any error, violation, or problem she spots, she immediately tells Mrs. Johnson. Like that one time I accidentally broke a random fencer's hips and Becky tattled on me! I was suspended for two weeks because of that, can you believe it!"

Both Lori and Carol-specially Carol-shivered and took a couple steps back as Maggie shot a glare at Dana, gesturing her to shut the heck up. "Please tell me I can just skip her and go straight to facing off against Teri," Lori fearfully told Carol.

The top fencer shook her head. "S-Sorry, Lori, but taking shortcuts is something Becky would definitely tattle on you."

"Wait, you mean she's watching us right now?!"

"Maybe yes, maybe not, but do you really wanna take the risk?"

Lori looked at the ground, then promptly shook her head, only to realize something, "Wait, aren't we supposed to be training or something?"

"I was starting to wonder when you were going to notice," Carol raised her foil. "Ready when you are."

Lori silently nodded and raised her foil before promptly training with Carol, all while the remaining five left to go to their respective dojo rooms.


	7. Sisters

_Back at Lori's bedroom..._

Lynn eagerly moved her legs up and down as she spoke with her friend Polly Pain on her phone.

"No way! You mean to tell me your sister's training in the same fencing dojo Lori is?!" Lynn exclaimed in surprised amazement.

"Yeah, my sister and my brother!" Polly answered from the other end of the call. "They're ranked as the 4th and 2nd best in all of the class, with my brother ranking right below Carol! I swear, that girl's a beast!"

"She's also Lori's mentor," Lynn nonchalantly pointed out. "Apparently, after a brief scuffle with Mrs. Johnson, which she lost-"

"Yeah, I heard about that," Polly interrupted. "In fact, both my sister and my brother think that even the combined might of the top five would not be enough to defeat her."

Lynn felt a chill go up her spine. "That's... Kinda scary."

"I know, but that being said, she's also known to be pretty mellow and passive," Polly added. "Unless your sister is stupid enough to challenge her in public, she won't hurt anybody."

Lynn narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me, what do you mean by that?"

"Well, the sister of yours that's doing fencing is Lori, right?" Polly asked, and she added as Lynn silently nodded. "Isn't she the one that talks almost constantly on the phone? Well, I don't know how good she is in talking outside of the phone, but if there's something that I know, is that spending too much time talking in one way may hinder your ability to talk in another certain way."

"Polly, could you please not pull a Lisa and tell me what you mean already?" Lynn growled.

"Since your sister speaks through the phone most of the time, it's very likely she's not that good when talking to people in general," Lynn felt her anger surge with the answer as Polly continued, "You know, kinda like my own sister: She has no problem in general interaction, but when she's on the phone, she tends to say the wrong thing."

That struck a nerve.

"Oh, is that so?" Lynn hissed. "Well, what about _your_ sister? How do we know she won't be the one to challenge Johnson by complete accident?!"

"She already did that once, and even with all her might, she couldn't even come close to scratching her," Polly revealed, which sent another chill up Lynn's spine. "And besides, since she already learned her lesson, it's very unlikely she'll end up doing that mistake again!"

"That's complete and utter nonsense!" Lynn snapped, getting up and gritting her teeth. "Even if you perfectly learned a lesson, you could always end up making the same mistake again, because you forgot it or by accident! I should know, that happens to me once in a while!"

Polly smugly asked, "By accident, or 'cause you forgot?"

The athlete hesitated, but eventually-and bitterly-revealed, "Sometimes by accident, sometimes by forgetting, but my point still stands!"

"Yeah, sure it does. Anyway, did you want to tell me something?"

Lynn smirked maliciously.

"Oh, I have a lot to tell you."

 _Back at the fencing dojo..._

Lori and Carol left Carol's room and stretched after a bit of training. "Good work, Lori," Carol remarked. "Let's take a break, and then go on to the final lesson of the day, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Lori nonchalantly replied.

A couple seconds of silence later, Carol asked, "So, are you liking your first day in the dojo?"

"I'm gonna be honest, I was literally sweating bullets about this whole ordeal," Lori sighed and smiled. "But, and I can't believe I'm saying this, you made this a whole lot more tolerable for me. Your instructions are clear, you're fairly straightforward, I was lucky to get you as a teacher."

Carol smiled at Lori, and this prompted the blonde newbie to blush and look away. "T-That doesn't mean we're friends or anything, though! You're a good teacher, but that's it!"

"Yeah, I get that," Carol chuckled. "Well, I should go get something to drink, want me to bring you something?"

"I-If you don't mind."

With that said, Carol left to go get drinks while Lori stood on her post, and promptly watched her leave. Did she really just compliment someone who was supposed to be her enemy? Or... Were they on their way of no longer being enemies?

"Wow, there's tension in the air, can you feel it?"

Lori turned around and saw Dana approaching her, before adding, "Romantic tension, to be exact."

"W-What do you want, Dana?" Lori growled.

"Well, besides teasing you and Carol a little, there's actually something I want to show you," Dana took out her phone and showed it to Lori. "My sister, Polly Pain, got into an argument with your sister, Lynn."

Lori pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ugh, what did that meatball grinder say to her?"

"She actually sent me the exact words she said."

Dana revealed the message, and the duo flinched in shock. "Your sister's got a pretty nasty vocabulary," Dana remarked.

"Yeah... So, now I have to ask," Lori took a deep breath. "In terms of raw strength, how easy would it be for you to break bones with your bare hands?"

"Lori, I may have an unnaturally larger amount of strength than average, but I'm still human," Dana answered, rolling her eyes. "Even if I used my full strength, there's simply no way I could end up breaking any of your bones in any damaging capacity."

Lori blinked, waiting for a proper answer.

"Simply put, even at full strength, I can't break any of your bones," Dana corrected herself. "Whether in fencing or in normal everyday life."

"Phew, that's a relief."

"So, how's Carol?" Dana suddenly asked.

Any friendly feeling the atmosphere had at that moment suddenly vanished as Lori realized she had forgotten one thing: She was supposed to hate Carol. And yet, the last interaction she had recently with her didn't imply the two were enemies, or even on bad terms. It seemed like they were friends, which they were, but not anymore.

"She still has a long way to go before I can forgive her for the whole homecoming fiasco," Lori looked at the ground. "And if you're interested to know-"

"I am, but Maggie already told me that the topic is a very hard one for both you and Carol to bring up, so I'm not going to force you to tell me the juicy details," Dana grinned and placed her hands behind her head. "After all, if you found out something that would greatly upset, I really doubt you would bring it up!"

That reminded Lori of something: she herself didn't need to do anything to get on Dana's side, specially since judging from the message, Lynn would be more than happy to do that instead. However, she still felt curious as to whether Dana would let this little dispute affect how she saw the trainee...

"Dana, can you promise something to me?" Lori inquired, earning the girl's attention. "Promise me that if our sisters do get on a grudge rivalry, that it won't dictate whether we like each other or not, okay?"

"Don't worry, Lori!" Dana eagerly answered. "I assure you, my opinion of you won't change no matter what happens between our sisters!"

Then, Dana leaned closer to Lori's ears, and revealed the bombshell:

"Because I don't like you one bit."

And so, Dana eagerly strolled away while Lori stood in disbelief, not knowing what to think of the comment.


	8. Confrontation

Back at the Loud house, Lori returned from the fencing dojo, and consequently, Dana's rather scathing comment. Not that she had time to think about it, since the sound of a nearby fight caught her attention. And sure enough, when she walked towards her room, she heard Lynn and her other siblings arguing.

"Come on, guys, give me a break!" Lynn whined. "First, you complain and scold me for not being on Lori's side, and now you complain and scold me because I was on her side this time?!"

Lincoln rolled his eyes. "Welcome to my world."

"Just because you were on Lori's side didn't mean you had to basically tick off your friend!" Luna growled. "Specially when she's the sister of the fourth and second best fencers in the dojo!"

"And what was I supposed to do?! Let her badmouth Lori and say nothing about it!"

"That would've been much better than what you actually did!"

"Literally hold your horses!"

Luna, Lynn, and Lincoln turned around to Lori, who was still being hugged by Luan. "Could you please leave me alone, Luan?" Lori told the comedian groupie. "I have to talk with our siblings."

"I'm your morning groupie, It's my job to cling to you like an annoying parasite," was Luan's reasoning.

"Leave me alone and I'll buy you a chocolate cake."

Luan promptly separated from Lori and bowed before running out of the room. "Don't worry, the cake will be for everybody," Lori reassured as she walked to the athlete. "Now, Lynn, Dana told me about what you said to Polly Pain-"

"I didn't mean to tick her off!" Lynn whined, stomping the ground. "She was badmouthing you and I couldn't resist defending you!"

"And I'm flattered you tried," Lori brushed her jock sister's hair. "Just please be more careful next time, okay?"

"I'll... Try," Lynn answered, looking at the ground.

"Speaking of which, how did it go on your end?" Lincoln inquired.

The oldest Loud sister got up and, with a contemplative look, went to sit on her bed as she pondered just what to tell Lynn and Lincoln. Who, of course, took it as her saying it went awful.

"Lori, I'm honestly really sorry for what happened," Lynn said. "I-I didn't think things would get so bad-"

"Don't get any ideas, guys, it went surprisingly well," Lori replied, briefly forcing a smile before turning back into a frown. "It's just that I'm upset because Dana told me something really upsetting, right on my face."

Lincoln and Lynn exchanged looks before asking:

"What did she tell you?"

Lori sighed and confessed:

"That... She didn't like me."

 _Meanwhile, at Carol's house..._

"You told her what?!"

Maggie and Carol hissed that sentence at Dana, who briefly flinched at the harsh words. Her flinching only worsened when she saw both Carol and Maggie throwing glares at her.

"I already told you, I simply told her the truth," Dana remarked, trying to look away from the inculpating glares. "I don't like her one bit, all I did was being honest."

"Right after she was finished her first lesson on the dojo?!" Carol snapped. "And right after she was feeling nervous because I teased her a little bit?!"

"Alongside the fact your sister and her sister decided to act like idiots and get on a little spat!" Maggie added, narrowing her eyes. "Do you know how much you hurt her with those words?!"

"Hey, did you expect anything else from a member of the Pain family?" Dana boasted, then posed. "We always bring the pain! Whether physically, or because we're far too honest for our own good!"

Maggie grabbed Dana by the neck of her suit and pulled her towards her. "And I get the feeling I did it in the second way!"

"Yes, you did," Maggie formed a fist. "And I'm about to give you the same sort of pain in the first way-!"

"Maggie, stop."

The duo flinched and paused right then and there, only to turn to look at Carol as she continued, "Beating up Dana, while incredibly relieving and something even I want to do right now, won't help anybody."

Maggie dropped Dana in disappointment.

"Ah geez, Carol, thanks for saving my skin," Dana said as the top fencer helped her get up. "For a second, I thought-"

"That doesn't mean I'm just going to let you get away with hurting my student's feelings," Carol hissed, shutting up the Pain in her butt. "I want you to scold your sister for prompting this entire situation in the first place, and then, you'll explain Lori what you meant by "not liking her" and how she can fix it, got it?"

"Y-Yes."

With that said, Carol and Maggie left Dana afterwards, who took the chance to mutter, "Geez, they're almost as bad as Becky."

She soon laughed out loud at the sheer absurdity of her statement.

 _A bit later, at the park..._

Lori and Lynn were walking towards a bench, where two other familiar figures were: Dana, and Polly Pain. Upon seeing them, the duo hesitated to move forward.

"Why are we doing this, again?" Lynn whispered to Lori as Dana waved at the duo. "Last time, Polly and I made a mess, don't you think all four of us could make this worse?!"

"Dana told me she needed to set things straight between the four of us, in order to move on from this little issue," Lori explained. "She put some effort into doing this, so let's try putting some effort into making this work, alright?"

"Geez, fine."

And so, the quartet met, with Polly and Lynn exchanging glares while Lori and Dana looked at each other with neutral looks.

"So, hello Lori," Dana greeted, scratching the back of her head. "I'm glad you accepted my offer."

"Well after our sisters'... Little argument," Lori shot a look at Polly, while Dana shot one at Lynn, then turned back to each other. "I was hoping we could try to come to a peaceful conclusion."

"Yeah, 'cause my sister would absolutely trash you otherwise, huh?" Polly scoffed. "'Cause-"

"Polly, be patient, we'll get there when we get there," Dana sighed. "Listen, Lori, I would rather wait until much later before we did this, but Polly gave me a suggestion on how we can solve this dispute: We engage in a little fencing match at the dojo, and whoever wins, we put this under the bridge."

"And by whoever wins, she means herself," Polly casually added.

"What did you say?!" Lynn growled as she took a step forward.

"Now, Lynn, calm down," Lori told the athlete, managing to get her to reluctantly back away. "I'm sorry, Lynn has something of a short temper."

"Yeah, I know how that's like," Dana chuckled. "Luckily, you managed to stop her before _she_ made things worse."

Unfortunately, Lori wasn't quite happy with what she heard. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, you said it yourself, your sister has a short temper, and if you hadn't stopped her right then and there, who knows what she would've done. Whatever she did, it could've made things much worse than they need to be," Dana explained, before gently rubbing Polly's hair. "I have nothing to worry about when it comes to my sister, though, she's well-behaved enough."

Dana and Lori exchanged chuckles before Lori went closer to Dana, then grabbed her by her shoulders, and promptly pushed her all the way towards a tree, all while Lynn and Polly just watched from their position. And then, once Dana stopped laughing, Lori giggled a bit more before snapping:

"Alright, listen up, you overpowered freak! Just because you can get away with hating me for whatever reason you got, doesn't mean I'll most definitely let you get away with literally pining blame for the argument, to Lynn and Lynn alone!"

"W-What are you saying?!" Dana asked, suddenly growing angry. "Are you saying _my_ sister's more likely to make things worse?!"

"No, I'm literally saying that _both_ of our sisters could've made this worse, and I'm not letting you pin the blame on only one of them, specially _my_ younger sister!"

Lori pinned Dana against a tree and hissed, while shooting a glare at her:

"Wednesday, on the main entrance, me versus you!"

However, Dana promptly freed herself and grabbed Lori's wrist before gripping it as hard as she could, with bones loudly breaking as she replied:

"So be it!"

And so, she threw Lori to the ground and started to leave the park with Polly by her side, while Lynn went to try and help Lori.

Then she returned and casually said, "Also, before I leave, there's something very important I need to tell you."

"What are you even going to tell her? How to get to the dang hospital?!" Lynn hissed.

"Yeah, aren't we supposed to be angry at each other now?" Lori winced, trying her hardest to hold back tears.

"Yeah, I know, and I promise I'll practice so next time we meet we can do this properly, but I need to let you know that I also give classes to improve resistence. So, once we finish with this whole deal, stop by my class, okay?"

However, Lori didn't answer. Rather she started to hyperventilate as she felt her mind growing more and more numb.

And then, she collapsed.


	9. Revelation

Sometime later, Lori slowly recovered consciousness and woke up in the middle of a hospital room, with both her whole family and the top five of the dojo being there by her side. In particular, Carol sat right next to her, while Dana looked like she was going to collapse in sorrow any minute now.

"W-What happened?" Lori asked before taking a look around. "Why am I in the hospital?"

"Well, how do I say this to you in a way that won't make you freak out?" Carol said, rubbing the back of her head with worry. "During your confrontation with Dana, she broke your wrist, and you collapsed from the pain. Dana quickly informed us afterwards."

"And I informed the rest of our family, too," Lynn added, sounding clearly worried. "We all worked together to take you to the hospital as fast as we could, and you were unconscious the whole time the doctors fixed your wrist."

"Although it's not exactly healed yet," Lisa pointed out as she adjusted your glasses. "The doctor says you'll need to rest for some weeks for it to fully heal. 4 weeks at best, 12 weeks at worst."

"But, my the wrist that got broken was the one of my good arm!" Lori replied in a panic. "How am I supposed to do fencing now?!"

"You won't."

Everybody turned around, and saw Mrs. Johnson walking into the room, with Becky and... Mrs. Loud by her side. Lori's mother looked rather saddened, guilty even, while Mrs. Johnson folded her arms behind her back and put an authoritarian look.

"W-What do you mean by that, Mrs. Johnson?" Lori asked, suddenly growing worried. "I mean, I know you may think that's the best thing for this, but-"

"I'm sorry, Lori, but I can't let you continue training with your broken wrist, specially because you were training in the first place for your mother's benefit, not yours," Mrs. Johnson sternly stated, giving a brief glare to Rita before finishing, "So, from this point forward, you're no longer part of the fencing dojo."

Though heartbroken at being taken out of the dojo, Lori's sadness soon turned into curiosity when she caught a particular part of Johnson's dialogue:

"You were training in the first place for your mother's benefit, not yours."

And of course, she just couldn't help but question, what could that even mean?

She would soon find out, since Mrs. Johnson gestured the top five to leave with her, but while Teri, Hugh, and Maggie left, Dana and Carol remained behind. Though surprised by this, Mrs. Johnson did nothing to convince or force the girls to come with her, and so she left, leaving Rita to face Lori, Carol, Dana, and the rest of her children.

"So, I know you may think you need to explain what happened, but you don't," Rita nervously pointed out, looking away and rubbing her shoulder as she added, "Dana told everybody what happened, and Mrs. Johnson further told me the details of what your broken wrist meant."

Suddenly, Lori asked:

"Mom, why were you determined to put me up for fencing classes in the first place?"

The woman winced at the question, and grew incresingly more worried as her children added onto the inquiry. First, Lynn:

"Yeah, now that I think about it, why did you do that? I know why you wouldn't pick me, I already tried and failed to do it, but why was Lori your next option?"

Then Lucy:

"I'm not someone who's into sports, but even I can see that someone who focuses mostly on her phone, and sometimes golf, may not be the best one to sign up for something like fencing."

And Lisa:

"I'm afraid I have to agree: By all logical accounts, the next person you should've picked to become a fencer should be someone who either has some interest in sports, or would otherwise be interested in this fencing deal."

Followed by Luna:

"Yeah, maybe like me? I mean, I wouldn't have minded giving the fencing thing a little shot. It's not related to music, but I could probably get a couple song ideas from it."

And Lana:

"I could've given it a shot too, you know? It's not related to muds or animals, but it looked interesting. And besides, I could always use a fencing technique or two to keep some animals under control!"

Then Luan:

"And I could make several jokes, whether they're fencing-related or not! Thursting jokes, sword jokes, style jokes, It's basically a goldmine of puns and quips! Or should I say, it's a _jokemine_?"

Leni promptly answered:

"No, say goldmine. Jokemine, like, doesn't make any sense."

And finally, Carol barged into the conversation:

"Okay, we've been getting sidetracked for far too long," the top fencer turned to the woman and folded her arms. "Mrs. Loud, Lori's injured, and everybody's wondering what you were thinking."

Carol narrowed her eyes. "So you better have a dang good explanation for all of this."

A quick look at her surroundings made Rita realize she had nowhere to run: Her kids wanted to know the truth, judging by their worried looks, the top five basically stared at her to just spill the beans already, and of course, Lori looked like she was hoping whatever news she had wouldn't completely shatter her. And so, the woman took a deep breath, and confessed:

"Last month, I saw the calendar to check when my and Lynn's anniversary was, and it would happen next month, about a week or so after the initiation test at the fencing dojo. Once I remembered that Lynn once wanted to become a fencer and eventually quit, I figured the best kind of gift would be to have one of our kids follow in his footsteps. Of course, we tried it first with Lynn Jr., and that didn't go as well as we had hoped."

Carol gestured the woman to shut up, and she obliged.

"So, let me get this straight: You put Lori into this whole new world, a world she wasn't used to, we trained her to become a good fencer, and she got into an argument with Dana that lead to her wrist being broken..."

The top fencer narrowed her eyes and hissed,

"All so you could claim this was an anniversary gift for your husband?"

"W-Well... yeah, but it's not like I was planning to only have Lori test out this fencing deal!" Rita answered, trying to save some face. "If she didn't want to do it, I was planning to see if any of her siblings would like to try it out."

Judging by her kids' furious glares, they didn't like her explanation.

"You were going to use just to give dad an anniversary gift!?" Lynn snapped.

"No! I was only planning to do that if Lori rejected the offer!" Rita explained, and she shrunk as she realized what she just said. "That... doesn't sound any better, does it?"

Everybody shook their head.

"You never wanted me to be a fencer in the first place?!" Lori asked, clearly disheartened. "You were just using me this whole time?!"

"Well, I was hesitant about it at first, but then I thought about it, and I figured you would end up enjoying it! I thought anybody would've enjoyed it eventually!" Rita explained, clasping her hands in worry. "And wasn't that what happened, Lori?"

"No..." Lori bitterly answered, covering her face. "What happened... was that you used me... for _your_ benefit..."

"And yours too!"

"Rita, we all know Lori's needs came second to yours."

Realizing who the voice belonged to, everybody turned around and saw none other than Lynn Sr., arms folded and with a look of disgusted disappointment.

"S-Sweetie, I can explain-!" Rita stuttered.

"I think you've explained enough," Lynn Sr. bluntly stated. "Kids, we're going back home, both because we need to let Lori rest."

The man paused and shot a glare at his wife.

"And because I need to get into a long, private conversation with your mother."

With that said and done, the man lead the way back home, with his upset wife and children following, with the younger ones waving goodbye to Lori before they went out of sight. Not that the teenager really noticed, she was too busy covering her face to notice.

"Lori?" Carol asked, grabbing Lori's hands. "Are you okay?"

Putting Lori's hands down revealed that no, she wasn't okay, judging from the mascare and tears running down her cheeks.

"Mom was just using me to give dad an amazing anniversary gift," Lori somberly stated, looking at the ground. "She never wanted me to become a fencer. She lied to me all this time. And I'm sorry that I'm acting so emotional right now-"

"No, don't worry, we understand," Carol replied as she brushed Lori's hair in a reassuring way. "I mean, breaking your wrist so hard you collapse, being forced to leave the dojo, and finding out the real reason why you were there in the first place? It's gonna be tough to handle."

Without warning, Lori hugged Carol and quietly cried her heart out, while the rest of the top five, and specially Carol, returned the hug and tried their best to comfort the girl.


	10. Aftermath

_Back at the Loud house..._

The remaining family members were at the parents room, where Rita sat on her and her husband's bed as that said husband, alongside the rest of her children, looked at her with disapproving looks.

"Again, like I said before, I can explain-" she stammered.

"Rita, the problem isn't that you can't explain your actions," Lynn Sr. stated. "It's the fact that, thanks to your little plan, our daughter is now hospitalized with a broken wrist, and out of something she seemed to be enjoying for some time, and the only reason you ever put her in that fencing stuff, was to have her follow in my footsteps."

"And what did you expect me to do?! Sit back and do nothing?!" Rita snapped, trying to keep some sort of control of the situation. "Lynn, we both know Lori has a bad sense of insecurity because, unlike her siblings, she doesn't seem to fit any specific archetype or have any talent of her own! I thought if she became a fencer, she would finally have something to make herself stand out, and then we'd only need to worry about finding Lincoln's talent!"

Lynn Sr. didn't flinch, being completely unaffected by his wife's response. "Did you really have to keep it all a secret up to this point, though? And also, did you also have to do it under the pretense that you wanted to give me an anniversary gift?"

"I thought you'd find it sweet that Lori decided to follow your footsteps!" Rita answered. "Or at least, try to do what you couldn't do!"

"Why would I find _any_ of my daughters being used, good intentions or not, sweet?" Lynn Sr. narrowed his eyes. "Did you have any plans to use our other daughters, or lord forbid Lincoln, in some other plan of yours as well?"

The woman fell silent as she realized that, if she said even one more thing that could be taken the wrong way, her husband and children would be more at odds with her than they already are. And so, she simply closed her eyes and hung her head low in shame, while everybody else left the room... except for Lincoln, who remained behind and sat next to her.

"You didn't mean for Lori to get hurt, did you?"

Rita shook her head, and without warning, her son gave her a hug. Not that she had any complaints. In fact, she quickly returned the hug as she cried her heart out, her son comforting her in the meantime.

 _Meanwhile, back at the hospital..._

Carol and Dana remained by Lori's side, with the latter trying to pamper Lori, while being held back by Carol.

"Dana, I know you didn't mean to break my wrist, and that you feel really bad about it, but you don't have to literally lose your head over it," Lori replied. "Trust me, I won't hold any grudges against you once I recover. I do would like an apology for what you said about my sister, though."

"Right," Dana looked at the ground. "I'm sorry, it's just that, as an older sister, I have a bad habit of becoming too protective of Polly, whether I protect her from danger or trash talk people who I think are bothering her."

Lori sighed. "I know the feeling."

"Hey, Lori?" Dana asked, getting the girls' attention. "Can I at least ask you something? It's... something that's been bugging my mind for a while now."

The eldest Loud sister just shrugged and said, "Sure, what do you want to ask?"

The came the bombshell of a question:

"What happened with you and Carol on the homecoming incident?"

Both Lori and Carol flinched, with the memories of that event suddenly swarming their minds. And while Lori briefly went pale but then calmed down, Carol took a deep breath and replied.

"I'm pretty sure there's no point in telling you about it right now,"

And as Carol continued, Lori looked at her wrist, and frowned.

"Lori's probably still in shock after what happened, and she needs to rest and stay calm if she wants to fully recover, which won't happen if she... remembers what happened that night."

Dana nodded in an understanding manner... and then, Lori stated:

"Once I recover, I'm going to tell you what happened in the homecoming fiasco."

As Dana flinched in shock, Carol stammered, "A-Are you sure, Lori?"

"You heard Mrs. Johnson, guys, I'm out of the fencing dojo. And if I'm going to leave, whether by my own will or not, I don't want to leave any issues unsolved," Lori sighed. "Besides, I was planning to tell you the truth about the homecoming incident eventually anyway. And since I'm leaving, I'll never get another chance to reveal it."

Carol and Dana looked down, feeling encouraged by Lori's determination, and yet also terrified because of the fact she was finally going to reveal the horrible truth of the homecoming incident. Or at least, it had to be bad, if neither Lori nor Carol felt comfortable talking about it... and then, she asked:

"Carol, do you think the power of the top five, combined with my own, could manage to provide a difference against Mrs. Johnson?"

"It could be possible that all six of us could manage to corner her enough to give us a chance of winning," Carol frowned. "Why do you ask, though? Do you have something planned?"

Narrowing her eyes in determination, Lori stated:

"If I'm going to leave, I'm going to make sure I leave an impression first!"

And as the girls exchanged worried looks, a certain little redheaded spy took a peak, then left the building and ran as fast as she could to the fencing dojo. Once there, the lights suddenly turned on, revealing not only was Mrs. Johnson standing at the training area, but that the redheaded spy was Becky.

"Becky, I'm sure I told you not to spy on Lori anymore," Mrs. Johnson sternly stated.

"Even if doing so allowed me to figure out how much like Lynn Sr. she is?!" Becky replied as she walked towards her mother, who raised an eyebrow. "Because that's what I found out! Lori's planning to gather with the rest of the top five students, once her wrist heals of course, and try to beat you with all their strength together!"

Mrs. Johnson looked at the ground and took a deep breath as her daughter continued:

"What do we do about it?"

"Prepare for it, of course," Mrs. Johnson stated, causing Becky to flinch and raise an eyebrow as the redheaded dojo master turned around and folded her arms behind her back. "It's not like this is anything new, a certain someone tried this same tactic a long time ago..."

Mrs. Johnson looked up, and another light it up, to reveal a large painting hanging on the wall. This painting showed Mrs. Johnson about to face off against the top five best dojo students... and a younger Lynn Sr.

"Like father, like daughter, I guess."


	11. The Homecoming Incident

**Okay, you people have been waiting for this story's continuation for a long time, and it's time for it to continue! Specially since we're very close to the ending!**

 **Before we go to the final battle, this chapter will reveal something that's been teased since last year: The homecoming incident. It probably could be saved for later, but we might as well get any loosing treads tied up before the final fight.**

 **So, without further ado, let's head right in!**

* * *

 _The Loud house backyard..._

It had been a couple of months since Lori came out of the hospital, and to make sure she didn't return right away, certain precautions had to be made. First and foremost being, Lori was no longer allowed to practice fencing, even for a brief moment.

So, the only real thing left to do for the girl was to sit at the backyard and just... stay calm and relax. Sure, she could go to her phone, but right now, she wasn't feeling all that alright, and besides her most common call number was Bobby, who would get worried sick if he knew she was in a downer, so yeah, not the best idea to call him.

Luckily, though, the girl at least had some company: Lynn, Luna, Luan, and Lincoln sat nearby her, with Luna and Luan hugging her tightly.

"Listen, I'm happy that you care about me so much that you want to keep me company, but you don't need to do it, really," Lori remarked, before turning to her groupies. "Besides, didn't literally you establish that one of you would be my groupe at day, and the other my groupie at night?"

"That was before you got your injury," Luan answered. "Now we're your groupies all day long, whenever we're free that is."

"Besides, this is pretty good practice for when I eventually become into one of Mick Swagger's groupies," Luna added.

Lori and Luan narrowed her eyes. "But of course, I'll be your groupie over Swagger's any time."

Lori rolled her eyes and shook her head before pulling her sisters closer with a warm smile. And then Lynn asked, "So, in the end, what did you think about fencing?"

"It was something... new, so I can't complain about that," Lori sighed. "I literally would've preferred if it wasn't done as a part of some plan to make a good anniversary gift. But, I did enjoy it during the time I practiced it. And I'm going to make sure I leave it with a bang."

"What are you talking about?" Lincoln inquired.

Realizing what she said out loud, Lori got ready to explain herself, only for everybody's attention to be caught when a particular group arrived: Maggie, Hugh, Teri, and Dana, four of the five top fencers of the dojo.

"Hi Lori, we received your message, and we came here as fast as we could," Dana greeted.

"And we would've come here sooner," Maggie added, before turning to Teri. "If someone didn't wind up getting a long earful from her boss by using her fencing tactics during her job."

Teri just looked away and whistled, trying to ignore the emo. Lori then got up, separated from her siblings, and walked to the group.

"I'm glad you came, but where's Carol?" Lori asked, putting her hands on her hips. "I thought she was coming with you?"

"And we thought you didn't like Carol at all?" Lynn added, getting her oldest sister's attention.

"We've gotten a bit more friendly since I started doing fencing, that's it," Lori explained. "And besides, there's something important that I need to tell my fencing partners over here, and I need Carol to be here in order to do it, so she can tell _her_ side of the story."

"Is that really a good idea, though?" Luna asked. "What if Carol words her story so that your fencing buddies here get on her side?"

"I doubt she'll do that, Carol's not the the type of person who would twist the truth in a way that would muddle the reality of what happened, only to get what she wants," Maggie replied, only to crack her knuckles as she added, "Besides, if she does try that, I'll immediately beat some sense into her."

"I'm starting to like the emo one," Lynn whispered to Luan.

"She's a goth," Luan sternly corrected.

Lynn just naively asked, "What's the difference?"

And as Luan threw an angry look at Lynn, and the other siblings tried to stop them from fighting, Lori and the other top fencers of the dojo sat inside at the kitchen, where they took the chance to eat something, though Lori simply looked at the ceiling in contemplation, while holding a cup of water on her hand.

"Hello? Earth to Lori," Dana blurted. "Why are you looking at the ceiling like that?"

"I'm just... contemplating stuff," Lori turned back to her fellow fencers. "Try to clear my mind so I can stay calm for when we train to beat Johnson."

"Or at least try to," Maggie remarked. "There's always the chance that we'll lose, just like-"

The other fencers shushed Maggie just as Lori tilted her head, her curiosity seemingly peaked.

"There's always the chance that we'll lose, that's what I meant to say," the emo hastily corrected. "Which is probably not what anybody would like to hear, but Johnson's just that good. We either give it our best and don't slip up, or she'll crush us like we were ants."

"Geez, thanks for being more positive than usual, Maggie."

Everybody turned around and saw none other than Carol had arrived. She sat next to Lori, and this prompted Dana to ask, "So, now that Carol's here, what's the plan?"

"If we're going to face off against the most dangerous challenge, then I can't do it while keeping such a big secret from all of you," Lori stated, taking a deep breath before she finished, "You've been told about it before, and I think it's time that you learn... what happened between Carol and me."

The remaining four top fencers flinched for the most part, except for Maggie, who was mostly indifferent.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Hugh asked. "From what you've been implied, it might be better if we don't find out what happened."

"We teased about it earlier with our interactions, and I already said I don't want to keep any secrets," Lori answered and sighed. "Anyway, it all started back in our homecoming event..."

 _A long time ago, at the homecoming event..._

Lori and Carol walked down the hallway, holding hands as they approached the doors to the auditorium. Lori wore a blue dress, while Carol wore a purple dress.

"You look really beautiful, you know that, Carol?" Lori complimented.

"Well, you don't look half-bad yourself, Lori!" Carol giggled, blushing at the compliment. "You still remember the promise we made before going here, right?"

"Yeah, whoever wins, the winner will literally share a kiss with the runner-up, I remember," Lori answered, stiffing a laugh before adding, "Anyway, let's go in, and see what fate has in store for us."

The duo went inside, and sat down at the nearest table they could find. And just in time too, since the principal of their school was about to declare the queen.

"And this year's homecoming queen is..." the principal took out the name and shout it out loud, in a moment that would utterly shatter Lori, "Carol Pingrey!"

Everybody stood up and cheered for Carol, except for Lori, who stood up frozen in place, having trouble processing what just happened. She and Carol were so sure that she was going to win, that they didn't expect anybody else to win, specially not Carol. After all, she wasn't even interested in the homecoming event until Lori invited her!

And yet Carol was named the queen?! What kind of sick joke was this?!

However, she seemed to be alone on this one, since Carol just stood up and squealed in delight as everybody else clapped and cheered for her. And then Carol grabbed Lori's hand and dragged her to the podium with her, where Lori stood in shock as Carol took the trophy and then spoke:

"I feel honored that you all voted for me to be homecoming queen. I love you all! But, I'm sorry, I just don't feel comfortable taking all of the credit. After all, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for who I consider the princess of this school, Lori Loud!"

The people cheered, but Lori didn't feel happy about it. If anything, she felt horrified; First Carol wins something Lori had tried so hard to get, and now, people were cheering for her despite having lost. Even Carol was cheering for her! Why?!

"And also, we promised each other that whoever won would give the other something special," Carol revealed on the microphone. "And, from a queen to a princess, I shall make good on that promise!"

And then, Carol made her greatest mistake: She grabbed Lori's shoulders, pulled her closer towards her, and planted a kiss on her lips. The entire room fell silent as some students gasped in utter disbelief at what just happened. Sure, some, male and female alike, enjoyed the sight, but the rest were totally caught off-guard, specially Bobby.

"Oh good lord," the guy remarked in horror, only to notice somebody taking pictures. "H-Hey, don't take pictures!"

Once the kiss ended, Lori shivered and took a look around before turning back to Carol, who was beaming a proud smile at her. Feeling ashamed and humiliated, Lori gritted her teeth and shed tears as she pushed Carol away and then ran out of the auditorium, crying loudly as everybody looked at her, with Bobby following her soon afterwards, leaving behind a confused Carol.

 _Back in the present..._

Lori looked at the ground and Carol looked away as the other fencers were left speechless at the revelation. Hugh covered his mouth, Dana held back tears, Teri put up a look of sympathy, and Maggie just looked away, mildly unnerved at the statement.

"So that's why you and Carol didn't exactly get along, at least on your end," Teri remarked, scratching her chin as she added, "Honestly, I probably would've done the same if I were on your place."

"And her boyfriend was there to witness it, too!" Dana added, frowning in sympathy. "Maybe that's why he seemed rather nervous about Carol being the top fencer?"

Hugh, meanwhile, turned to look at Maggie, who remained silent and with her arms folded. "Did you knew about this already, Maggie?"

The emo closed her eyes, refusing to give the guy an answer.

"Maggie was the first person to find out about it, actually," Carol remarked, getting everybody's attention. "You see, shortly after the event..."

 _The past... again..._

Carol walked back home, looking at her reflection in the trophy as she couldn't help but wonder what the heck just happened. Why did Lori react the way she did? Didn't the two of them agree to be happy for the other regardless of what happened?

"Why did Lori suddenly run off like that?" Carol pondered out loud. "I mean, sure, the victory would probably feel overwhelming, but she seemed to flee out of sadness rather than joy."

Carol turned to look at the moon sky, which was bathed in stars. "Was it something I did?"

"You seem rather sad."

Carol stopped right on her tracks, and looked around until she spotted the source of the voice: A younger Maggie, wearing glasses and sitting in a bench nearby.

"Is something bothering you?"

Carol scratched the back of her head. "W-Well, yeah, but-"

"You can tell me," Maggie gestured Carol to sit next to her. "Helping you through your issues should be good practice for when I become a psychiatrist."

Carol sat down, and explained:

"Well, my friend and I had our homecoming dance tonight, and we both tried our very hardest to try and become prom queens. However, when I was the one who won, my friend just... ran off crying for some reason!"

"Did something happen?" Maggie inquired. "Before she ran off crying, that is."

"Well, I asked her to come to the podium, which she did, then I kissed her like we promised before," Carol explained, scratching her head as she said that. "She then ran off after that, and I've been wondering if I did something."

Surprisingly enough, Maggie was visibly angry. "Well, what do you think?! Your friend first loses to you, and then you go ahead and kiss her, in front of everybody, without even asking her if she was feeling okay!"

Though she didn't get it at first, it didn't take long before the girl realized what she did.

"I've made a horrible mistake!" Carol grabbed Maggie's shoulders. "What can I do to fix it?!"

"Girl, you're asking someone who hasn't even had her first kiss yet," Maggie answered, putting a hand in Carol's shoulder. "All I can really tell you is, give your friend some time to recover, then ask for forgiveness. And if she doesn't accept it... just let it go."

Carol looked away, then looked back at Maggie with a forced smile. "There has to be another way, right?"

Maggie shook her head. "Sometimes, people just aren't willing to forgive someone for what they did to them, regardless of how remorseful you feel."

With reality hitting her like a fright train, Carol couldn't hold her tears, so she cried as Maggie, though still angry at the girl, comforted her.

 _Back in the present..._

"And now we're here, potentially about to face against Mrs. Johnson once more," Maggie then got an idea. "And now that I think about it, did you ask your father about how it went last time, Lori? Maybe get some tips from him?"

"I though about it, but then I realized that Dad probably wants me to win in my own way, rather than repeat what he did," Lori shook her head. "After all, he did seem really angry after finding out Mom put me on classes for his anniversary, so I'd rather not anger him anymore."

Lori then took a sip of her cup of water, then proclaimed with determination:

"Now then, let's train to face against Mrs. Johnson!"


	12. Grand Finale

**Alright everybody, this is it. The grand finale of the Lori the Fencer story. It's been long coming, and I've dragged this story for long enough. It's time for Lori and Carol to finally confront Mrs. Johnson, and hopefully go out with a bang.**

 **And oh lord, was it difficult to not only get some focus on it, but also think of what to do. I've been so busy with Chains of Reality and Wands of Destiny, that I completely forgot to give some attention to my other on-going stories. And with my move to Peru, it only got worse since I didn't bring my laptop with me.**

 **I know it may seem like I'm making excuses, but I'm honestly sorry it took so long for me to finish this one little chapter. Yes, I'm calling the finale to a story "one little chapter" and that's weird, I agree, but... Well, I just hope you guys can forgive me for making you wait so long.**

 **And now, without further ado, let's head to the grand finale.**

* * *

The vanzilla parked at the parking lot of the fencing dojo, the place where Lori would face off against Mrs. Johnson, in order to make sure she left the dojo with a bang. Soon after they parked, the family came out of the vanzilla and walked towards the door; Lori was dressed in her fencing outfit, Luan and Luna were dressed as her groupies, and the younger siblings-and Lincoln and Lynn-were dressed as cheerleaders.

"Alright, this is literally it," Lori remarked as she and her family walked towards the dojo. "The final battle I'll have with Mrs. Johnson, my first and only chance to go out of the fencing world forever, with a bang."

"We're gonna support you 'till the very end, sis," Luna stated, giving her eldest sister a thumbs up as she added, "Luan and I will make sure to smother you with as much affection as possible, win or lose."

"And the other cheerleaders and I will cheer you on!" Lincoln excitedly exclaimed. "That's gotta work to an extent!"

"Mom, don't worry about that right now," Lori replied. "Once everything's done with, we can talk about it and see if we can come to a conclusion. But until then, just cheer me on, alright?"

Rita remained silent, before she nodded with a little smile.

So everybody went inside, and spotted the top five of the fencing dojo waiting for them: Hugh, Dana, Teri, Maggie, and Carol. Specially Carol, who immediately ran to Lori and hugged her, with the eldest Loud sister returning the hug soon afterwards.

"Is everybody literally ready for this?" Lori asked.

The top fencers nodded with determined smiles, even Maggie, prompting Lori to state:

"Then let's finish this!"

So the top five and Lori ventured into the dojo, knowing that from this point onwards, there was no going back for them. They'd either face Mrs. Johnson and win, or lose in the most epic way fashionable.

But if there was something they wouldn't do, it was run away.

So they walked until they reached the fencing arena, which was rather pitch dark, for some reason. Then, they heard some groans of pain, and even a Wilhelm scream, and the lights turned on soon afterwards, revealing Teri, Hugh, and Dana laying on the ground.

"Guys!" Carol exclaimed in shock. "Are you okay?!"

"They're laying on the ground, Carol," Maggie dryly pointed out. "What do you think?"

Just then, Mrs. Johnson stepped out of the shadows and onto the arena, sporting her red version of the fencing outfit. Upon seeing her, the three remaining girls took a battle stance as they took out their fencing swords.

"Did you do that to them, Johnson?!" Lori sternly asked.

"Are you surprised?" Mrs. Johnson answered, adding as the Loud family sat on the spectator seats. "Teri was just there, and Dana and Hugh are part of the Pain family, who you should by know, have greater strength than the usual fencer. It was the most logical choice to take them out."

Johnson tilted her head. "But, regarding Dana, why do you seem upset about her being knocked out? She was the one who broke your wrist, after all. I thought you'd be happy."

Lori gritted her teeth. "What happened before literally doesn't matter right now! We came here for one thing, and one thing only!"

Lori leaped forward and Carol shouted "Lori, wait!" as the oldest sister lifted her fencing sword and proclaimed:

"To defeat you!"

However, as soon as she swung her sword, Lori could only watch as Mrs. Johnson nonchalantly blocked the sword with her own fencing sword, then simply pushed Lori back to the duo as she scoffed, while looking at the Loud family:

"Like father, like daughter, it seems."

Lori gritted her teeth and growled, ready to lunge at the woman once more, until Maggie stepped forward.

"I'll face Johnson," the goth stated before turning to Carol. "You and Lori make up a plan to defeat her once and for all!"

"But Maggie, this is Mrs. Johnson we're talking about!" Carol pointed out. "If you make even the slightest mistake, she will destroy you!"

Maggie just snickered. "I'd rather be destroyed than watch as one of my closest friends is destroyed instead."

The emo dashed towards the woman, with Carol only managing to utter Maggie's name as she watched her go and clash with the teacher.

"Fighting alone is all but guaranteed to result in your loss," Mrs. Johnson slowly overpowered the emo fencer. "You know this, don't you?"

"Of course," Maggie smiled with determination. "But as long as you're taken down in the end, that's a loss I'm willing to accept!"

Maggie continued her clash with Mrs. Johnson as Carol helped Lori get up and keep her balance.

"Okay, what's the plan?" Carol asked.

The eldest Loud sister looked elsewhere as she remembered what happened during the homecoming fiasco.

And Carol remembered too just a moment. "Oh no, I brought up bad memories, didn't I?"

Lori lowered her head.

"Listen, Lori, I'm sorry for acting so hasty that night," Carol sighed, rubbing her arm. "I was so overjoyed at becoming homecoming queen, I forgot how everything was supposed to go: You'd win, you'd get all the admiration, and you'd kiss me."

Carol lowered her head. "But instead, everything became centered around me once more: I won, I got the admiration, and worst of all, I kissed you-"

"The kiss was fine."

Carol turned to Lori with a shocked look, and saw the young woman take a deep breath before speaking:

"It's everything else that's been bothering me for so long. To know that I tried so hard to do something, only to find out someone else won... I felt devastated."

Lori looked at her fencing sword, and narrowed her eyes.

"But this time, it'll be different. I may quit the dojo, I may quit fencing altogether... But I'll leave being a winner, not a loser."

And then, Maggie was sent flying back to the blonde couple.

"Okay, I think that's as far as I can go against her solo," Maggie remarked as she caught her breath. "You guys got a plan yet?"

Carol and Lori exchanged worried looks, and Maggie threw an "Are you serious?!" glare at the duo before Mrs. Johnson finally moved and aimed straight for Carol's hip, making sure to block Lori's blade in the process...

However, to her surprise, Maggie pushed Carol away at the last moment and took the hit, eliminating herself, but keeping Carol in the ring.

"You sacrificed yourself for your friend," Mrs. Johnson stated as Maggie stood up, rubbing her hip. "Good work."

Maggie nodded and walked to the side of the rest of the eliminated fencers, leaving Lori and Carol as the sole people left to take on Johnson, who jumped back to her previous spot.

"Well, Carol, looks like we're the only ones left: A newbie that barely got past her first exam, and one of the top five," Lori raised an eyebrow. "What would you say are our chances of winning?"

Carol shook her head and smiled, "I have no idea."

Lori turned back and smirked. "Same thing."

The girl dashed forward towards Johnson, who stood still as she waited their incoming attacks. And as soon as they started swinging their fencing blades, Mrs. Johnson blocked them to the best of her abilities, keeping the fight at a standstill.

"Go, Lori and Carol!" Dana exclaimed, with the rest of the top fencers shouting encouragement. "You can do it!"

"You're my favorite couple!" Maggie shouted, earning weird looks from the other fencers. "What? Somebody had to say it."

The Louds started cheering as loud as they could as the fight continued, with Lisa making a quick observation:

"Are they still following proper fencing rules?"

"I don't think so," Lynn shook her head. "But they're about to win, so who cares?!"

Lisa smiled and raised her arms, proclaiming "I don't!" before joining the cheering.

The fight continued, with Johnson remaining calm while Carol and Lori tried to push her out of the ring. However, once she was mere inches away from that, the woman swung her saber and sent Carol and Lori's swords up in the air, leaving them open for attack. So she thrusted forward...

And Lori and Carol dodged her strike and grabbed their sabers just in time to strike Johnson on their own, scoring one point each.

With that done, the girls and Mrs. Johnson separated as Becky walked into the arena, and exchanged looks with her mother, who clutched one of her striken spots before nodding.

"Mrs. Johnson has been struck twice, one point for Lori, and one point for Carol Pingrey!" Becky stated before walking to Lori and Carol's side. "This marks the winners, as Lori Loud and Carol Pingrey!"

The whole family rejoiced and cheered as loudly as they could, fittingly enough, while the other top five celebrated as well, in their own way of course.

Lori and Carol also celebrated, hugging eachother and jumping up and down in sheer joy.

"I literally can't believe it!" Lori exclaimed. "We actually defeated Mrs. Johnson!"

"Yeah, baby, we did it!" Carol chirped.

And then Carol pulled Lori closer to a kiss, causing the cheering to stop as she realized her mistake.

"I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean to do it again! B-But the cheering, a-and the fact we won, I-I just thought-"

Then, Lori smiled with amusement, and stated as she grabbed Carol's shoulders:

"Stop talking, you big, stupid, homecoming queen!"

Lori pulled Carol for a kiss, and the cheering continued as Mrs. Johnson took off her helmet and watched the scene with a proud smile.

Sometime later, the Louds were getting ready to leave, with Lori bidding farewell to the rest of the top five.

"Are you sure you don't want to try convince Mrs. Johnson to let you keep training here?" Dana asked.

"Nope, I've had enough fencing for this week," Lori stated. "But, if it makes you feel better, I literally loved it while it lasted."

"And what's gonna go between you and Carol now?" Teri asked. "Are you gonna be girlfriends or what?"

Lori turned to see Carol talking with Maggie, with the emo telling a joke that the top fencer laughed at.

Then, Carol spotted Lori, and blushed as she waved her hand, with Lori doing the same with a big, wide smile across her face.

As for the Louds, they were approached by a stern-looking Mrs. Johnson, making Lynn Sr. flinch.

"Oh, Mrs. Johnson, long time no see," Lynn Sr. nervously said. "H-How are you doing?"

"Mr. Loud, there's only way thing I have to tell you," Mrs. Johnson said, then smiled before offering her hand. "Congratulations."

The man looked at the hand, then glanced back at the redheaded woman. "But, I didn't do anything."

"It's not about what you did, It's about what your child accomplished," Mrs. Johnson folded her arms and shook her head. "I don't wanna be brutally honest with you, but during your short time in my dojo, I didn't think you would amount to much, and when Lori joined, I was a bit suspect about you trying to live your missed glory through Lori."

Mrs. Johnson threw a glance at Mrs. Loud. "But, as we know, it was a certain someone _else_ we had to worry about."

Rita looked elsewhere and chuckled as she scratched the back of her head nervously.

And of course, Lori was the next person Mrs. Johnson went to.

"Excellent work, Mrs. Loud," Mrs. Johnson stated, offering a hand shake to the young woman. "You managed to do what your father couldn't do... I know I already said you're out of this dojo, but... if you feel like it, I can't really stop you from trying out fencing elsewhe-"

Suddenly, Lori hugged the redheaded woman, and stated "Thank you... for giving me a chance" while shedding a single tear.

Once the shock wore off, Johnson silently returned the hug with a prideful smile.

"Okay everybody, get back to the car!" Lynn Sr. exclaimed. "Let's have some pizza to celebrate!"

The Louds cheered, and all but one of them ran to the vanzilla. The one who remained behind was Lori, who extended her hand towards Carol.

"Would you like to come celebrate with us?" Lori asked with a warm smile.

Carol glanced at the hand, then sternly stated:

"No."

Lori grimaced, while the rest of the top fencers looked shocked... Except Maggie, who smiled with her arms folded.

And then Carol smiled and grabbed Lori's hand as she stated:

"As in no way am I rejecting that offer!"

Maggie shook her head and snickered while the rest of the top fencers sighed in relief. And Carol bid them farewell as she left and entered the vanzilla.

"Carol's coming us too?" Lincoln asked.

"Yeah, this is a victory for her as well as me," Lori turned to Carol. "It's our victory."

Lori and Carol blushed as the former said:

"S-So, uh, Bobby Boo Boo Bear will be moving away in a week, so I was wondering if you would... You know..."

Carol wrapped her arm around Lori and chirped, with a proud smile:

"Of course I'll go out with you, Lori. Or should I say, my Queen?"

Lori chuckled. "Thanks a lot... My Queen."

And as the vanzilla rode to the nearest pizza restaurant available, Lori and Carol shared one more kiss, cementing their relationship.

 **The End.**


End file.
